5 Best Dividend Paying Stocks to Buy Now

2. AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 72
Dividend Yield as of August 2: 4.47% 

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) ranks 2nd on the list of 10 best dividend-paying stocks to buy now. The Illinois-based healthcare company manufactures pharmaceutical products namely Humira, Viekira, and Imbruvica. AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) pays an annual dividend of $5.20 per share and yields at 4.47%. The American oil and gas firm has increased its annual dividend for the last 37 years.

Last year, AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) purchased Allergan in a $63 billion deal. The acquisition will support the expansion of the company’s products in the market. Shares on AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) jumped 22% in the last twelve months.

On August 3rd, Mizuho analyst Vamil Divan raised AbbVie Inc.’s (NYSE: ABBV) price target to $131 per share from $128 per share and reiterated its Buy rating on the stock. According to the analyst, AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) delivered strong quarterly reports and is still trading lower than its peers.

The company has a market cap of $203.91 billion. The company’s second-quarter EPS was $3.11, beating consensus estimates by $0.02. AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) reported revenue in the second quarter of 2021 was $13.96 billion, beating estimates of $13.63 billion. Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) increased 7% year to date.

At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 72 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $5.92 billion in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV), down from 83 hedge funds in the previous quarter holding stakes worth $6.97 billion.