Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV)

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 31,423 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 19% compared to the average volume of 26,489 call options.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $185.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $196.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.18. AbbVie has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The firm has a market cap of $328.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.05). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 20.3% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,204,000 after buying an additional 273,078 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,403,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.4% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 7,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $466,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.19.

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.