In this article, we reviewed Fisher Asset Management’s stock portfolio strategy and examined billionaire Ken Fisher’s top 10 high dividend stock picks that have a dividend yield of at least 4%. You can skip our detailed analysis of billionaire Ken Fisher’s investment philosophy and his portfolio moves to read Billionaire Ken Fisher’s Top 5 High Dividend Stock Picks.
Billionaire Ken Fisher’s strategy of maintaining a well-diversified stock portfolio helped him generate robust returns for investors over the decades. Along with spreading investments across several sectors, he seeks to create long-term positions in growth, value, and dividend stocks to maximize returns and minimize the risk of losses. His investments in high growth stocks from information technology, communications, and consumer discretionary sectors produced significant gains in 2020. Moreover, the billionaire investor is likely to enjoy big gains in 2021 from investors’ shift towards value and dividend stocks that are likely to benefit from economic reopening.
In addition to share price gains, his investment firm Fisher Asset Management held a position in several stocks that offer a dividend yield of more than 4%. Before moving on to billionaire Ken Fisher’s top 10 high dividend stock picks, let’s take a look at his investment philosophy and portfolio adjustments for 2021.
In January, Fisher said in a YouTube video that 2021 could be the last year of a ‘very long’ bull market.
Stocks from the information technology sector weighted around 26% of the overall 13F portfolio of Ken Fisher, according to the latest filings. Fisher, however, slashed positions in stocks from the finance sector in the past couple of quarters. As of the end of the fourth quarter, finance stocks account for about 19% Fisher Asset Management’s portfolio. Ken Fisher has also been building positions in communications and consumer discretionary stocks over the last two years.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Visa (NYSE: V), and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) are Fisher’s five largest stock holdings that together represent 21% of 13F portfolio. Fisher Asset Management held a position in 1010 stocks at the end of the December quarter. The top ten stock positions accounted for 31.98% of the portfolio. Moreover, the firm has added to its 24 out of 25 top positions during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management ended the December quarter with $120 billion in assets under management and $133 billion in the 13F stock portfolio.
Ken Fisher founded Fisher Asset Management in 1979 and incorporated it in 1986. He is the heart and soul of Fisher Asset Management and currently serves as the executive chairman and co-chief investment officer. His investment firm has employed hundreds of researchers and analysts to pick attractive investment ideas. Ken Fisher is also a columnist and author and regularly contributes to several publications including Forbes – where he contributed from 1984 through 2016.
While Ken Fisher’s reputation remains intact, the same can’t be said of the hedge fund industry as a whole, as its reputation has been tarnished in the last decade, during which its hedged returns couldn’t keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. On the other hand, Insider Monkey’s research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 124 percentage points since March 2017. Between March 2017 and February 26th 2021 our monthly newsletter’s stock picks returned 197.2%, vs. 72.4% for the SPY. Our stock picks outperformed the market by more than 124 percentage points (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that significantly underperformed the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 13% through November 16th. That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. You can subscribe to our free newsletter on our homepage to receive our stories in your inbox.
Ken Fisher of Fisher Asset Management
Let’s start reviewing billionaire Ken Fisher’s top 10 high dividend stock picks for 2021. We selected dividend stocks from Fisher’s portfolio that offer a yield of at least 4%.
10. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE)
Healthcare giant Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a permanent member of Fisher Asset Management since 2001. The company currently offers a quarterly dividend of $0.39 per share, yielding around 4.40%. Pfizer has raised dividends in the past 11 successive years and its average dividend growth in the past 5 years stood around 6.35%. Its dividends appear safe amid a sustainable growth in financial numbers. In addition to dividends, PFE stock price rose 16% in the last twelve months.
Pfizer stock was in 63 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of December, down compared to 66 hedge funds the end of Q3.
9. BP p.l.c. (NYSE: BP)
Fisher Asset Management raised its position in BP Inc (NYSE: BP) by 40% during the fourth quarter to 10.93 million shares. The strategy seems to be working for Ken Fisher’s hedge fund because shares of BP rallied 18% since the beginning of this year. The company has also been rewarding investors with hefty dividends. Its dividend yield is hovering above 5.17%. The company currently offers a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share. Last year, BP slashed its dividend almost by half due to oil price volatility.
BP has experienced a slight decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late. BP plc was in 29 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. The all-time high for this statistic is 40. There were 27 hedge funds in our database with BP positions at the end of the second quarter.
8. Exxon Corporation (NYSE: XOM)
Ken Fisher has been holding a stake in Exxon Corporation (NYSE: XOM) over the last two decades. It is also among the billionaire Ken Fisher’s top 10 high dividend stock picks. The company offers a dividend yield of more than 6%. XOM has maintained its dividends in 2020 despite the challenging market environment and lower oil prices. It currently offers a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share.
The smart money was getting more optimistic about XOM. The number of long hedge fund bets on the stock improved by 11 lately. Exxon Mobil Corporation was in 63 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. The all-time high for this statistic is 68.
7. BHP Group (NYSE: BBL)
The diversified metals and mining company BHP Group (NYSE: BBL) is on the list of billionaire Ken Fisher’s top 10 high dividend stock picks since 2018. The firm held 6.95 million shares of BHP Group at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, up 4% from the previous quarter. BHP currently offers a dividend in the range of 7% and it has raised dividends in the last four straight years.
BHP Group has experienced an increase in hedge fund sentiment recently. BHP Group was in 18 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. The all-time high for this statistic is 24.
6. Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX)
Billionaire Ken Fisher looks bullish over the future fundamentals of the oil industry. He has raised his stake in Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) by 3% during the fourth quarter to 5.64 million shares. Chevron is also among billionaire Ken Fisher’s top 10 high dividend stock picks for 2021. The company offers a quarterly dividend of $1.29 per share, yielding around 5%. In addition to dividends, Chevron has generated 24% share price growth so far this year.
Chevron Corporation was in 50 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of December. The all-time high for this statistic is 56. CVX has seen an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months. There were 43 hedge funds in our database with CVX positions at the end of the third quarter.
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Disclosure: None. Billionaire Ken Fisher’s Top 10 High Dividend Stock Picks is originally published on Insider Monkey.
