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

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 121,889 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 573% compared to the average daily volume of 18,105 put options.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $169.63. The company had a trading volume of 7,242,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,438,136. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.84. The stock has a market cap of $299.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie has a 1 year low of $136.30 and a 1 year high of $207.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.83.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter worth $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.