We recently compiled a list of the Warren Buffett Dividend Stocks by Sectors and Industries. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against the other Warren Buffet-approved dividend stocks.

Warren Buffett is a well-known figure in the investment community, and his reputation requires no introduction. He is one of those rare investors whose strategies are closely emulated by countless newcomers to the field. This widespread admiration stems from the fact that Buffett operates in a class of his own. He remains committed to the investment principles he has relied on throughout his career, particularly value investing. The Oracle of Omaha’s lack of enthusiasm for the current AI trend highlights his steadfast dedication to the strategies that have guided his investment approach for decades.

At the Berkshire annual shareholder meeting in May, Buffett was asked about AI’s potential impact on traditional industries. He responded by acknowledging that he was not knowledgeable about the technology but emphasized that this lack of understanding did not imply he dismissed its existence, importance, or significance in any way. That said, Buffett is also enthusiastic about several other strategies beyond value investing.

Also read: Warren Buffett Disciple Guy Spier’s 10 High Conviction Stock Picks

Dividend stocks have been a staple in Berkshire’s portfolio for a long time, with nearly 93% of the holdings focused on them. The media has often highlighted Buffett’s affinity for dividend stocks, particularly because Berkshire Hathaway, his own company, does not pay a dividend. His approach has proven successful, as the investment portfolio managed by Buffett and his team is projected to generate around $6 billion in annual dividend income. Remarkably, $4.36 billion of that income from common and preferred stock dividends comes from just five companies.

Buffett’s approach to dividend investing isn’t driven by chasing the highest yield. Instead, he prioritizes identifying outstanding companies that can maintain and grow their dividends over the long term. He prefers a moderate yield from a stable, successful company over a higher yield from a less reliable and weaker one. If Warren Buffett has a preference for dividends, it’s clear he’s on the right track, given how significantly these stocks have contributed to overall market returns. His love for dividend stocks reflects the significant role these equities have played in contributing to the market’s overall returns over the years. Between 1993 and the end of 2022, the S&P 500 grew by 777%. However, when dividends were factored in, the S&P 500 saw an increase of over 1,400% during the same period. This indicates that dividends accounted for more than 20% of the market’s total return during those years.

Buffett carefully monitors the sectors and industries he invests in, which is a core aspect of his investment strategy. By the end of Q2 2024, the finance sector was the largest portion of his portfolio, followed closely by technology, with substantial investments also in basic materials and consumer goods. This article will explore some of the best Warren Buffett dividend stock selections across these different sectors and industries.

Our Methodology:

For this article, we analyzed Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F portfolio as of the second quarter of 2024 and picked dividend stocks from the portfolio. We mentioned the sectors and industries these stocks belong to and ranked them in ascending order of the hedge fund’s stake in them during Q2 2024.

We also measured hedge fund sentiment around each stock according to Insider Monkey’s database of 912 funds as of Q2 2024. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here).

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Berkshire Hathaway’s Stake Value: $84,248,000,000

Sector: Information Technology

Industry: Consumer Electronics

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) tops our list of the best Warren Buffett dividend stocks. The hedge fund reduced its massive stake in the tech giant during the second quarter of 2024, which was unexpected given Buffett’s reputation for long-term investing. The fund’s AAPL stake was valued at $84.2 billion at the end of the second quarter, indicating that Buffett had sold just over 49% of the tech investment. Despite this reduction, the company remained by far Berkshire’s largest stock holding. Buffett had already cut the Apple stake by 13% in the first quarter and mentioned at the Berkshire annual meeting in May that the sales were partly for tax reasons. He suggested that selling “a little Apple” this year could benefit Berkshire shareholders in the long run if future US tax policy increases capital gains taxes to address a growing fiscal deficit. The company represented over 30% of the firm’s 13F portfolio.

Where Berkshire slashed its AAPL stake, Baron Funds reinitiated its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the second quarter of 2024. The firm highlighted the strengths in the company’s business in its Q2 2024 investor letter:

“This quarter we re-initiated a position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), a leading technology company known for its innovative consumer electronics products like the iPhone, MacBook, iPad, and Apple Watch. Apple is a leader across its categories and geographies, with a growing installed base that now exceeds 2 billion devices globally. The company’s attached services – including the App Store, iCloud, Apple TV+, Apple Music, and Apple Pay – provide a higher margin, recurring revenue stream that both enhances the value proposition for its hardware products and improves the financial profile. Apple now has well over 1 billion subscribers paying for these services, more than double the number it had just 4 years ago. The increasing services mix has led to healthy operating margin improvement, providing more free cash flow for Apple to reinvest in the business and to distribute to shareholders. Throughout its 48-year history, Apple has successfully navigated and capitalized on major technological shifts, from PCs to mobile to cloud computing. We believe the company’s leading brand and device ecosystem position it to do equally well in the AI age, and this was the driver of our decision to re-invest. “Apple Intelligence” – the AI strategy unveiled at Apple’s recent Worldwide Developer Conference – leverages on[1]device AI and integrations with tools like ChatGPT to enhance user experiences across its ecosystem. The AI suite enables users to create new images, summarize and generate text, and use Siri to perform actions across their mobile applications, all while maintaining user privacy and security. We think Apple Intelligence can drive accelerated product upgrade cycles and higher demand for Apple services. The combination of growth re-acceleration, increasing services contribution, and thoughtful capital allocation should continue driving long-term shareholder value.”

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported strong earnings in its fiscal Q3 2024. The company’s revenue for the quarter came in at $85.7 billion, which saw a 4.8% growth from the same period last year. In addition, its cash position was also stable, generating $29 billion in operating cash flow. The company returned $32 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) currently offers a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.44%, as of August 21. In May this year, the company raised its dividend for the 12th consecutive year.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was a popular stock among elite funds during Q2 2024, as per Insider Monkey’s database. The hedge fund positions in the company jumped to 184 in Q2, from 150 in the previous quarter. The stakes owned by these hedge funds have a collective value of more than $124 billion.

Overall AAPL ranks 1st on our list of the best dividend stocks to buy according to Warren Buffett. While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued dividend stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued dividend stock that is more promising than AAPL but that trades at less than 7 times its earnings and yields nearly 10%, check out our report about the dirt cheap dividend stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.