Dividend Stock Portfolio: Top 5 Stock Picks By Hedge Funds

2. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 166

Dividend Yield as of November 2: 0.88%

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is one of the top picks of elite hedge funds for a dividend stock portfolio. On October 25, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) declared a $0.45 per share quarterly dividend, a 20% increase from its prior dividend of $0.375. The dividend is payable on December 1, to shareholders of the company as of November 11. The company also announced a new $12 billion share repurchase program. At the end of September, $5.1 billion was remaining in authorized units under its existing buyback program. 

On October 27, Barclays analyst Ramsey El-Assal reiterated an Overweight rating on Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) but lowered the firm’s price target on the shares to $264 from $271 following the Q3 earnings.

According to Insider Monkey’s second quarter database, 166 hedge funds were bullish on Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), up from 159 funds in the earlier quarter. Chris Hohn’s TCI Fund Management is the leading position holder in the company, with approximately 20 million shares worth $4 billion. 

Here is what RiverPark Large Growth Fund has to say about Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in its Q3 2022 investor letter:

“We reinitiated a small position in Visa, which we had previously owned for years (selling out of the position at higher levels in February). We continue to believe that the long-term secular growth trend towards digital payments remains intact and has been further enhanced by the COVID crisis. The growth in debit cards, contactless payments, e-commerce, and now, buy-now-pay-later (BNPL), are all driving digital payment penetration, and we continue to be impressed with the long-term growth potential of V (and our other payment holdings Mastercard, Adyen, and PayPal).”