Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV)

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 39,550 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 52% compared to the typical daily volume of 26,055 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $189.97 on Wednesday. AbbVie has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $335.71 billion, a PE ratio of 79.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.58. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.26.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $2.79 EPS. Equities analysts predict that AbbVie will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current 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 dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GGM Financials LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.3% in the third quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 0.8% during the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.4% during the third quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Professional Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.