AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Price Target Raised to $239.00 at Morgan Stanley

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) had its price target upped by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $224.00 to $239.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 26.69% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $207.30.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $188.65 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 company has a market capitalization of $333.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $176.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.13. AbbVie has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advyzon Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $715,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,191,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,677,000 after purchasing an additional 45,266 shares during the last quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 12,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,234,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 22,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,029,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 4,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.