Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE:TEVA)

Key Points

• Unusually heavy options activity hit Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, with traders buying 16,778 call options on Tuesday, about 51% above its normal call volume.
• Company insiders have been selling shares: Mark Sabag and EVP Eliyahu Sharon Kalif both disclosed large sales, and insiders sold 465,931 shares in the last quarter overall.
• Wall Street sentiment remains fairly positive, with nine Buy ratings versus one Sell and a consensus price target of $41.78, while TEVA recently traded at $32.84.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE:TEVA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 16,778 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 51% compared to the typical volume of 11,088 call options.

Insider Transactions at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries

In related news, insider Mark Sabag sold 144,180 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.99, for a total transaction of $5,044,858.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 80,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,825,792.40. This represents a 64.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Eliyahu Sharon Kalif sold 153,251 shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.61, for a total value of $5,457,268.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 172,184 shares in the company, valued at $6,131,472.24. This trade represents a 47.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 465,931 shares of company stock worth $16,332,989. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Teva Pharmaceutical Industries

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TEVA. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries by 24.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 23,955 shares of the company's stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 4,732 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 40,074 shares of the company's stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 1,739 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at about $255,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC acquired a new position in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries during the second quarter worth about $238,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries by 2.9% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 45,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $768,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.05% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on TEVA. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in a report on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $42.00 target price (up from $41.00) on shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.78.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Stock Performance

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries stock traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $32.84. 2,337,565 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,676,710. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.01. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has a twelve month low of $14.99 and a twelve month high of $37.35. The firm has a market cap of $37.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.84. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $33.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.27.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE:TEVA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries had a return on equity of 43.53% and a net margin of 9.01%.The firm had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts predict that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Company Profile

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. NYSE: TEVA is an Israeli multinational pharmaceutical company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of generic medicines. The company's core activities include the development, production and marketing of generic pharmaceuticals alongside a portfolio of specialty branded medicines. Teva supplies finished dosage forms and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to markets around the globe and operates manufacturing and research facilities in multiple countries.

Teva's product range covers oral solids, injectables, inhalation products and other dosage forms across therapeutic areas such as central nervous system disorders, respiratory, oncology, pain and infectious disease.

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