Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $224.00 to $239.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on ABBV. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $190.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $336.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.25, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $176.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.13. AbbVie has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 257.91% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 12.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $39,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AbbVie

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; Epkinly to treat lymphoma; Elahere to treat cancer; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat blood cancers.