5 Dividend Aristocrats Hedge Funds Love

2. AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 82

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is a US-based biopharmaceutical firm, offering a 3.62% yield as of March 16. It declared a $1.41 per share quarterly dividend on February 17, which was in-line with previous.

On March 16, AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) received FDA approval for its Rinvoq drug to treat ulcerative colitis in adults. In early March, Citi analyst Andrew Baum reiterated a Buy rating on AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shares, and raised the price target to $170 from $155, on the back of optimism for its Rinvoq drug.

As of March 16, AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) saw its share price gain 48.56% in the last 12 months, and 44.85% in the last 6 months. The firm’s EPS for the fourth quarter came in at $3.31, outperforming estimates by $0.03.

As of the fourth quarter, 82 hedge funds held positions in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV), with a collective value of $3.74 billion. This is up from 81 hedge funds in Q3 2021. Berkshire Hathaway of Warren Buffett held 3.03 million shares worth $410.74 million in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) at the close of the fourth quarter, making it the top shareholder of the biopharmaceutical firm.

Investment firm Miller Howard Investments talked about many stocks in its Q3 2021 investor letter, and AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was one of them. Here’s what the fund said:

“While optimistic about a recovery, we continue to balance our cyclical holdings with dividend-payers in stable, less economically-sensitive industries. We hold three pharmaceutical companies, (which includes) AbbVie (ABBV). All three have strong cash flows and balance sheets, making their high dividends reasonably safe. The investment controversy surrounding these pharma companies is whether they can develop or acquire new products to replace their current blockbuster drugs. The low valuations on these stocks reflects what we believe to be undue pessimism by investors on the prospects for new drugs.”