Long-term dividend investors in the pharmaceutical sector have had quite a few high-quality stocks to invest in. One of these, however, seems to have fallen a little out of favor recently. Pharmaceutical giant AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) has seen its shares fall significantly following news that it intended to acquire Botox developer Allergan (NYSE: AGN) in a massive $63 billion deal.
Even before this announcement was made, shares of AbbVie had fallen by 40% over the past 16 months since hitting a record high. While it's understandable that AbbVie, now that its Humira patent is expiring, will need to look elsewhere and plan for the future, investors are worried that the company might be overpaying and saddling itself with too much debt too quickly.
Although AbbVie's stock price has taken a tumble, there's a strong case to be made that its recent discount makes it a compelling investment opportunity. Here are a few reasons this might be true.