5 Best Dividend Paying Stocks To Buy Now

2. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 128
Dividend Yield as of September 26: 0.61%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a California-based tech giant which is widely known for its consumer electronics and other tech-related services. On September 26, JPMorgan highlighted the continued strong sales volumes of the company’s new iPhone 14. The firm mentioned that this new product is expected to fare better than the previous model. The firm maintained its Overweight rating on the stock.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.61%, as of September 26. The company has been raising its dividends consistently for the past nine years and has a five-year dividend CAGR of 8.45%.

In fiscal Q3 2022, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported an operating cash flow of roughly $23 billion, up from $21 billion in the same period last year. Its free cash flow came in at $20.7 billion, compared with $19 billion in the prior-year quarter. During the quarter, the company returned $28 billion to shareholders and announced its plans to invest in its long-term growth plans.

With over $122.3 billion worth of stake, Berkshire Hathaway was the largest stakeholder of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in Q2 2022. In addition to this, 128 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey owned stakes in the company in Q2, valued at over $143 billion.

Alger Capital mentioned Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q2 2022 investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say:

“Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a leading technology provider in telecommunications. computing and services. Apple’s iOS operating system is the company’s unique intellectual property and competitive strength. This software drives extremely tight engagement with consumers and enterprises. The engagement is fostering the growing purchase of high-margin services like music, apps, and apple pay. Apple’s shares detracted from performance as management lowered its guidance for the second quarter due to headwinds from the war in Ukraine, adverse foreign currency shifts, and dampened consumer demand associated with the coronavirus in China. Additionally, many investors were concerned that lockdowns implemented to curtail the spread of COVID-19 would impact production of apple products, however the manufacturing facilities have resumed activity.”