I have traded on and off in Abbott Labs Stock for a few years although often the put premiums were not large enough to warrant risking much capital.
In 2013 I owned shares for sometime and picked up the Jan 2 dividend of $65.50 which was paid out through a split between it and ABBV. It was a bit of a complex dividend as the actual price of Abbott Labs was readjusted (naturally) to take into account the shares given out which worked out on a dividend basis to $65.50. AbbVie Inc. focuses on medical products dealing primarily with autoimmune diseases. Some of its products you may know. They include rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, HIV, thyroid; Parkinson’s disease,kidney, cystic fibrosis, etc. I felt the split was a fair deal for investors but it seemed to concern some investors. AbbVie Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ABBV. It has seemed to have topped out recently after reaching an intraday high of $70.76 on Dec 8 2014. It has not though made new lows yet and it continuing to hold above the previous low from October 2014. This would indicate that ABBV Stock is possibly going to try to recover the latest highs. Options are available for ABBV Stock and at times I have found the premiums to be a bit better than ABT Stock. Since the split AbbVie Stock has performed better in some regards than Abbott Labs Stock as far as the chart pattern for trading and the growth since the split in December 2012.
Problems With ABBV Stock
The biggest problem I have in trading ABBV Stock is the Price to Earning at 55 times and the price to cash flow of 37 times. AbbVie Inc is a huge company with more than 20,000 employees and revenue that rivals Abbott Labs, but Abbott Labs trades at a lower 42 times price to earning and 21.9 times price to cash flow making it somewhat more attractive for my types of strategies.
The breakup into two companies, kept option premiums low in ABT until later in 2013 and into 2014. Part of the reason of course was the drop in the stock valuation after the split. The chart below reflects the change in valuation to show the stock increase properly.
Abbott Labs Stock 5 Year Stock Chart
The five-year stock chart below shows how steady this stock has been. It is now up 87% since March of 2010 when it was trading around the $25.34 valuation. This marks an 87% increase in value. The dividends are also very good. Aside from the Jan 2 2013 large dividend payout, the dividend itself is back to 24 cents or 0.96 cents annually. This works out to 2% at current stock prices.
Abbott Labs Stock 5 Year Chart
With the entire healthcare sector rising this year, it should help to keep Abbott Labs Stock elevated. I will be trading in this stock all year in 2015 and will reassess it for 2016. 2015 marks 6th year of a rising trend in Abbott Labs Stock. It will be interesting to see how this year plays out for ABT Stock.
ABT Stock: 2 Active Trades
Presently there are two active trades in Abbott Labs. The rest of this trade summary update for 2015, can be reviewed by FullyInformed USA Members.
Abbott Labs Stock (ABT) Trades for 2015 Update
FullyInformed USA Members can can review the latest Abbott Labs Stock trades update for 2015 directly through this link or they can sign in to the full USA members site here. Non-members can join here or read about the benefits of being a member.
Disclaimer: There are risks involved in all investment strategies and investors can and do lose capital. Trade at your own risk. Stocks, options and investing are risky and can result in considerable losses. None of the strategies, stocks or information discussed and presented are financial or trading advice or recommendations. Everything presented and discussed are the author’s own trade ideas and opinions which the author may or may not enter into. The author assumes no liability for topics, ideas, errors, omissions, content and external links and trades done or not done. The author may or may not enter the trades mentioned. Some positions in mentioned stocks may already be held or are being adjusted.
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