5 Best Dividend Paying Stocks To Buy Now

In this article, we discuss 5 best dividend paying stocks to buy now. If you want to read our detailed analysis of dividend stocks and their performance, go directly to read 16 Best Dividend Paying Stocks To Buy Now. 

5. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 135

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) ranks fifth on our list of the best dividend stocks to buy now. The multinational tech company has raised its dividends every year since 2012 and it currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share. During the quarter, it also returned $24 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. The stock’s dividend yield on August 25 came in at 0.54%.

At the end of Q2 2023, 135 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported having stakes in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), growing from 131 in the previous quarter. Warren Buffett, Ken Griffin, and Israel Englander were some of the company’s leading stakeholders in Q2.

4. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 139

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is an American multinational financial services company that operates in the payments industry. It has been growing its dividends consistently for the past 10 years, which makes it one of the best dividend stocks on our list. The company offers a per-share dividend of $0.57 every quarter and has a dividend yield of 0.57%, as recorded on August 25.

Of the 910 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 139 funds owned stakes in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in Q2 2023, with a collective value of over $14.7 billion.

Baron Funds mentioned Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in its Q2 2023 investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say:

“We modestly trimmed Visa Inc., Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA), and Accenture plc to manage the position sizes and raise capital to fund purchases elsewhere. These stocks remain full-sized positions and high-conviction ideas in the Fund.

Another fintech industry trend we’re seeing is a pickup in M&A activity, most notably in the payments sector. The year started with Nuvei’s $1.3 billion acquisition of Paya announced in January. In April, Network International received an initial takeover offer from a group of private equity firms, which was then topped by Brookfield Asset Management whose $2.8 billion offer was accepted by the Board in June. Following reports earlier this year of a bidding war between Visa Inc. and Mastercard Incorporated to acquire cloud-based issuer processor and core banking software provider Pismo.”

3. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 171

An American financial services company, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) has raised its dividends every year since 2008. On July 25, the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, which was consistent with its previous dividend. With a dividend yield of 0.74% as of August 25, V is one of the best dividend stocks on our list.

As of the close of Q2 2023, 171 hedge funds in Insider Monkey’s database owned investments in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), with a collective value of roughly $25 billion. With over 17.7 million shares, TCI Fund Management was the company’s leading stakeholder in Q2.

Baron Funds mentioned Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in its Q2 2023 investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say:

“We modestly trimmed Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), Mastercard Incorporated, and Accenture plc to manage the position sizes and raise capital to fund purchases elsewhere. These stocks remain full-sized positions and high-conviction ideas in the Fund.

Another fintech industry trend we’re seeing is a pickup in M&A activity, most notably in the payments sector. The year started with Nuvei’s $1.3 billion acquisition of Paya announced in January. In April, Network International received an initial takeover offer from a group of private equity firms, which was then topped by Brookfield Asset Management whose $2.8 billion offer was accepted by the Board in June. Following reports earlier this year of a bidding war between Visa Inc. and Mastercard Incorporated to acquire cloud-based issuer processor and core banking software provider Pismo, Visa announced its intention to acquire the Brazilian company for $1 billion in late June.”

2. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 175

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is a California-based technology company known for its specialization in graphics processing units (GPUs) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The company offers a quarterly dividend of $0.04 per share for a dividend yield of 0.03%, as of August 25.

Hedge fund positions with stakes in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) grew to 175 at the end of Q2 2023, from 132 in the previous quarter, according to our database. The consolidated value of these stakes is nearly $26 billion.

1. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 300

With 300 hedge funds holding stakes in it in Q2 2023, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) tops our list of the best dividend stocks to buy now. The stakes owned by these hedge funds have a total value of roughly $70 billion.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) currently offers a quarterly dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.84%, as of August 25. The company has been growing its dividends consistently for the past 16 years.

You can also take a look at 13 Best 52-Week High Stocks To Buy Now and Ken Fisher’s 12 New Stock Picks

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