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

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 477,943 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 2,599% compared to the average daily volume of 17,707 call options.

AbbVie Trading Down 2.4%

ABBV stock traded down $5.24 on Thursday, hitting $216.66. 6,952,065 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,644,876. The stock has a market cap of $382.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 164.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.36. AbbVie has a 1-year low of $164.39 and a 1-year high of $244.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $226.89 and a 200-day moving average of $216.08.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.09. AbbVie had a net margin of 4.00% and a return on equity of 3,216.47%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. AbbVie has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.320-3.360 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.73 per share. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 496.97%.

More AbbVie News

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large bullish options flow: unusually heavy buying of call options (about 477,943 calls) signals speculative or hedged bullish bets by traders that could amplify upside if catalysts arrive.
• Positive Sentiment: Completed Phase 1 for ABBV‑CLS‑616 (Calico collaboration) — early clinical progress supports AbbVie’s oncology/age‑related disease R&D narrative and could be a future value driver. AbbVie Quietly Advances ABBV‑CLS‑616
• Positive Sentiment: First‑in‑human trial completed for obesity candidate GUB014295 — bolsters AbbVie’s push into the fast‑growing obesity market and adds near‑to‑mid term pipeline optionality. AbbVie Advances Obesity Pipeline
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership / M&A activity in oncology — collaboration with RemeGen on a novel bispecific antibody and messaging at JPM about a “clear line of sight” to growth through the 2030s support the long‑term narrative. AbbVie, RemeGen Partner on Novel Bispecific Antibody JPM26, Day 3: AbbVie touts ‘clear line of sight’
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic push into obesity: AbbVie is planning a major build‑out in the obesity market after licensing a weight‑loss drug from Gubra — high potential but execution‑dependent and capital intensive. AbbVie plans to build out its presence in obesity market
• Neutral Sentiment: Big public commitments and analysis (strategy pieces, JPM transcript) provide context but are not immediate earnings drivers; they matter for medium‑term investor sentiment. JPM Conference Transcript The AbbVie strategy
• Neutral Sentiment: Report that AbbVie may invest up to $100B in the U.S. for tariff exemptions — large and headline‑grabbing but would be multi‑year and dependent on policy, so treat as a long‑term variable. AbbVie to invest $100 billion
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term price weakness: coverage pieces note the stock closed down and pulled back from recent highs — likely a mix of profit‑taking, high valuation multiples, and rotation away from big pharma in the short term. AbbVie (ABBV) Stock Dips While Market Gains

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. HSBC raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $225.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $258.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.84.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Conning Inc. increased its position in AbbVie by 7.1% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 191,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,458,000 after acquiring an additional 12,690 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in AbbVie by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 57,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,215,000 after purchasing an additional 10,891 shares during the last quarter. Dohj LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 4,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335 shares during the period. Permanent Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth about $720,000. Finally, Railway Pension Investments Ltd raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 33.0% during the third quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 853,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,723,000 after buying an additional 211,800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Company Profile

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie’s product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women’s health.