Carillon Tower Advisers, an investment management company, released its “Carillon Eagle Growth & Income Fund” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The S&P 500 Index ended Q1 down 4.3%, marking a turbulent start to 2025. The volatility that began in February was triggered by factors including policy uncertainties, economic deceleration, and AI investment sustainability concerns. The market's first intra-quarter drawdown exceeded 10% in 28 months. Adding to the uncertainty, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield declined from 4.8% to 4.25%, leading to an equity market rotation favoring defensive sectors, quality stocks, and dividend-yielding equities over growth and momentum-driven investments, with top-performing sectors like energy, healthcare, and consumer staples. Moreover, the quarter saw market participation broaden, with index leadership shifting from mega-cap technology companies to a more diverse base of stocks, as evidenced by the S&P 500® Equal Weight Index's outperformance. Additionally, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2025.
In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Carillon Eagle Growth & Income Fund highlighted stocks such as AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV). AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is a research-based biopharmaceutical company. The one-month return of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was 6.74%, and its shares gained 13.84% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 19, 2025, AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) stock closed at $185.71 per share with a market capitalization of $327.809 billion.
Carillon Eagle Growth & Income Fund stated the following regarding AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) issued better than expected initial 2025 guidance and raised the long-term sales outlook for its two most important drugs. The stock also benefited from the broader equity market rotation into the healthcare sector, including into more defensive industries like biopharmaceuticals.”
A pharmacist handing out a pharmaceutical drug to a patient in a drug store or chemist.
AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 85 hedge fund portfolios held AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) at the end of the fourth quarter, compared to 68 in the third quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the undervalued AI stock set for massive gains.
