Warren Buffett and Cathie Wood Just Bought This Juicy Dividend Stock. Should You?

Contrary to what you’ve heard, great minds don’t always think alike. Just look at the stock picks made by Warren Buffett and Cathie Wood. There aren’t many stocks on which these two well-known investors agree. But I can think of at least one notable exception.

Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) added AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) to its portfolio in the third quarter of last year. Berkshire bought even more shares of the big drugmaker in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Wood’s ARK Genomic Revolution ETF (NYSEMKT:ARKGscooped up shares of AbbVie in February.

What makes AbbVie so appealing to two very different investors like Buffett and Wood? And is the big pharma stock one that you should consider buying as well?

Different attractions

It’s pretty easy to figure out why Wood chose AbbVie for the ARK Genomic Revolution ETF. The stated objective of the ETF is to invest in companies that “are focused on and are expected to substantially benefit from extending and enhancing the quality of human and other life by incorporating technological and scientific developments and advancements in genomics into their business.” AbbVie certainly meets that wordy description.

Genomics serves as a core component of AbbVie’s research and development. In particular, the company’s pipeline features a long lineup of experimental cancer drugs for which genomic analysis is especially important.

Buffett probably wasn’t thinking much about genomics when Berkshire bought AbbVie, though. Instead, I suspect the legendary investor was drawn to a great extent by the drugmaker’s attractive valuation. AbbVie’s shares currently trade at less than nine times expected earnings. 

While Berkshire itself doesn’t pay a dividend, Buffett tends to like to buy stocks of companies that do. AbbVie arguably ranks as one of the best dividend stocks around. It’s a Dividend Aristocrat with 49 consecutive years of dividend increases under its belt. AbbVie’s juicy dividend yield of more than 4.8% was no doubt something that Buffett found really attractive.

A common denominator

Both Buffett and Wood want the stocks that they buy to generate solid growth over the long term. Neither investor would have picked AbbVie if they didn’t fully expect the drugmaker would be able to deliver on that front.

Full story on Fool.com

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