AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC – Get Rating) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.
Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Argus boosted their price target on AmerisourceBergen from $140.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank lowered AmerisourceBergen from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 6th. Mizuho boosted their price target on AmerisourceBergen from $130.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on AmerisourceBergen from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on AmerisourceBergen from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AmerisourceBergen presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $152.86.
Shares of ABC traded up $5.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $151.39. 1,841,151 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,185,595. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $138.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.67, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.55. AmerisourceBergen has a twelve month low of $111.34 and a twelve month high of $151.55. The company has a market capitalization of $31.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.45.
AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $2.59 by ($0.01). AmerisourceBergen had a return on equity of 543.21% and a net margin of 0.73%. The business had revenue of $59.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AmerisourceBergen will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
In other news, CAO Lazarus Krikorian sold 11,653 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.14, for a total transaction of $1,609,745.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 24,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.07, for a total value of $3,301,602.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,186 shares of company stock valued at $18,034,356 over the last quarter. 28.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABC. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in AmerisourceBergen by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,036,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,732,356,000 after purchasing an additional 2,016,216 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in AmerisourceBergen by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,807,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $904,658,000 after purchasing an additional 338,819 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in AmerisourceBergen by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,788,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $571,962,000 after purchasing an additional 82,358 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in AmerisourceBergen by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,966,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,387,000 after purchasing an additional 82,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AmerisourceBergen by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,735,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,726,000 after purchasing an additional 113,699 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.47% of the company’s stock.
About AmerisourceBergen
AmerisourceBergen Corp. engages in the provision of pharmaceutical products and business solutions that improve access to care. It operates through the Pharmaceutical Distribution Services and Other segments. The Pharmaceutical Distribution Services segment distributes an offering of brand-name, specialty brand-name and generic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to healthcare providers, including acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, and long-term care and alternate site pharmacies.