5 Best S&P 500 Dividend Stocks To Buy

3. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 146

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is one of the world’s largest payment processing companies, based in New York, US. It also provides related financial services to its consumers. In January, Truist raised its price target on the stock to $450 with a Buy rating on the shares, as the firm covered the main FinTech names. The firm mentioned that MA is most likely to maintain its momentum due to its outperformance last year.

On December 6, Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) declared a 16.3% growth in its quarterly dividend to $0.57 per share. With this increase, the company extended its dividend growth streak to 10 years. The stock has a dividend yield of 0.60%, as of January 23.

One of the best S&P 500 dividend stocks to buy, Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) reported a strong cash generation in Q3 2022. The company had $7.6 billion in cash and cash equivalents, up from $7.4 billion at the end of December 2021. Moreover, it also paid $474 million to shareholders in dividends during the quarter.

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) saw significant growth in hedge fund positions in Q3 2022, as 146 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in the company, up from 137 in the previous quarter. These stakes have a total value of over $13.8 billion.

Ensemble Capital Management mentioned MA in its 2022 annual investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say:

“Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) (8.43%* weight in fund): Mastercard declined just 1.61% during the Fund’s fiscal year, adding 1.30% to relative performance. After worries last year about Buy Now, Pay Later lenders being disruptive to Mastercard’s payment network provided to be misguided, Mastercard avoided much of the decline in the broader stock market this year. In addition, with inflation worries being the main driver of the market selloff, the company’s inflation resistant business model calmed worried investors.”