Hedge Funds Are Piling Into These Dividend Stocks: Part I

Along with $2.8 in dividends pay out per share in 2014, a 6% increase from last year, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has consistently increased its dividends since 2002. The 2.8% dividend yield of the $278.35 billion healthcare company makes it the second highest dividend provider on this list. The hedge fund interest in the company was however lesser than  Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and  Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Among the 76 hedge funds who had invested $4.98 billion in the company after the fourth quarter was Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management, which had 10.42 million shares valued at $1.09 billion to its name.

The fourth company on this list, Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is currently providing a dividend yield of 1.67%. The latest disappointing guidance for the second quarter, which included  a prediction of revenues to remain flat over the quarter and an EPS in the $0.26-$0.30 range, hasn’t fared well for the 79 hedge funds ($3.51 billion) that were invested in the tech company at the end of the last quarter of 2014. The stock is down 4.01% year to date. Kenneth Mario Garschina of Mason Capital Management held 9.89 million shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) valued at $246.47 million, according to the latest round of 13F filings.

Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)‘s 2.02% dividend yield and the latest 10% increase in dividends over the year makes the company an attractive investment. This is also exhibited by the rise in popularity of its stock among hedge fund managers during the fourth quarter (82 funds versus 71 in the third quarter). John Segrich and Michael Molnar’s Lorem Ipsum Management initiated a position in the company amounting to 60,000 shares valued at $8.65 million during the fourth quarter.

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