AmerisourceBergen (ABC) Lifted to Buy at Goldman Sachs Group

AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) was upgraded by Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on ABC. Cowen set a $107.00 target price on AmerisourceBergen and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird set a $99.00 target price on AmerisourceBergen and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 1st. Deutsche Bank began coverage on AmerisourceBergen in a report on Monday, December 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded AmerisourceBergen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research cut AmerisourceBergen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. AmerisourceBergen presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $93.20.

Shares of AmerisourceBergen (ABC) traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $89.31. The company had a trading volume of 2,920,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,795,618. AmerisourceBergen has a 52 week low of $71.90 and a 52 week high of $97.85. The stock has a market cap of $19,295.90, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.91.

AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.01. AmerisourceBergen had a return on equity of 56.29% and a net margin of 0.27%. The firm had revenue of $39.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. equities research analysts anticipate that AmerisourceBergen will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other news, insider Dale Danilewitz sold 2,012 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $171,020.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Richard W. Gochnauer sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total value of $176,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,947 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,336. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 170,407 shares of company stock worth $13,745,358. Insiders own 27.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in AmerisourceBergen by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Sun Life Financial INC lifted its position in AmerisourceBergen by 15,000.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sun Life Financial INC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in AmerisourceBergen by 29.0% in the 2nd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 1,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Intl Fcstone Inc. bought a new position in AmerisourceBergen in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. bought a new position in AmerisourceBergen in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. 67.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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About AmerisourceBergen

AmerisourceBergen Corporation is a pharmaceutical sourcing and distribution services company. The Company’s segments include Pharmaceutical Distribution and Other. The Company provides services to healthcare providers, and pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturers. As of June 30, 2016, the Pharmaceutical Distribution segment consists of two operating segments, including the operations of AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation (ABDC) and AmerisourceBergen Specialty Group (ABSG), which distributes specialty drugs to their customers.