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

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 39,550 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 52% compared to the average daily volume of 26,055 call options.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth $39,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of ABBV traded up $7.62 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $191.52. The stock had a trading volume of 5,617,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,175,544. 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’s fifty day moving average is $176.57 and its 200 day moving average is $185.13. AbbVie has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The firm has a market cap of $338.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie will post 12.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ABBV. Truist Financial lifted their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Five investment 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, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.