AbbVie Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:ABBV)

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 38,496 call options on the company. This is an increase of 78% compared to the typical daily volume of 21,600 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV stock traded down $1.28 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $175.46. 4,759,440 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,870,483. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $178.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 10.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.78%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GGM Financials LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.7% during the third quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% during the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 0.8% during the second quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Company Profile

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.