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

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 39,550 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 52% compared to the average volume of 26,055 call options.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock traded up $7.62 on Monday, reaching $191.52. The company had a trading volume of 5,617,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,175,544. The company’s fifty day moving average is $176.57 and its 200 day moving average is $185.13. The company has a market cap of $338.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.68, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. AbbVie has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 257.91%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that AbbVie will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,486,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the period. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 14,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,559,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. PYA Waltman Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 18,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,279,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,704,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Five 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

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.