Investors Buy High Volume of AbbVie Put Options (NYSE:ABBV)

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 121,889 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 573% compared to the typical daily volume of 18,105 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research started coverage on AbbVie in a report on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.89.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of ABBV stock traded down $2.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $167.02. The stock had a trading volume of 1,748,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,424,541. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. AbbVie has a 12-month low of $137.05 and a 12-month high of $207.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $193.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $295.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.63.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This is a boost 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 3.93%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.