We recently published a list of the 10 Best Long-Term Dividend Stocks to Buy According to Billionaires. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) stands against other best long-term dividend stocks.
Dividend stocks are increasingly popular with both every day and billionaire investors. A CNBC report noted that for many, dividend stocks are always a solid choice, offering a steady income from corporate cash flow, which provides stability despite fluctuations in stock prices. With both the stock and bond markets experiencing significant volatility, these stocks are becoming even more attractive, serving as a balanced option between growth and yield for a broader range of investors.
The long-term appeal of dividend-paying stocks remains robust, especially for investors aiming to reduce risk while still pursuing growth. Ramona Persaud, portfolio manager of the Fidelity Equity-Income Fund and Fidelity Global Equity Income Fund, typically prefers high-quality companies that offer reliable dividends and are attractively priced. She highlighted that declining interest rates can benefit dividend stocks, as their yields become more appealing compared to bonds. Additionally, Persaud mentioned that lower rates could help drive broader market gains, unlike the recent performance, which was mainly driven by a few large growth stocks.
Her investment strategy focuses on companies with strong balance sheets, consistent cash flows, and significant return potential. She also stresses the importance of valuation—seeking stocks that are reasonably priced compared to their peers and historical averages—while targeting dividend yields that stand out in the current market. This blend of quality, value, and income, she believes, has contributed to the fund’s strong performance in both rising and declining markets.
Dividend stocks are gaining popularity once more in the current market, following two years of losses amid the dominance of high-performing tech stocks. The Dividend Aristocrat Index, which tracks the performance of companies with at least 25 consecutive years of dividend growth, is down by a little over 2% since the start of 2025, compared with a nearly 6% decline in the broader market. This trend indicates that dividends are gaining traction, with more companies introducing dividend policies and existing dividend payers gradually increasing their payouts to attract investors. An S&P Global report projects that 408 companies in the broader market will pay dividends in 2025. Of these, nearly 350 are expected to raise their dividends over the next year, contributing to an estimated 6% growth in total dividends compared to the previous year. In the overall US market, aggregate dividend growth is forecasted to be 4.6% in 2025. Since S&P companies account for about 85% of all US dividend payments, the S&P index serves as a reliable indicator of broader dividend trends.
Dividend stocks are also a key component of many billionaire investors’ portfolios. For instance, Warren Buffett has been earning billions annually from dividend stocks, setting a strong example for other investors, as his strategies are highly regarded. In fact, nearly 90% of the companies in his Q4 portfolio pay dividends, and many of them are also known for growing their dividends over time.
An array of pharmaceutical pills with the company’s logo on the bottle.
Our Methodology
To compile this list, we screened for dividend stocks that have strong financials and solid dividend policies. From that group, we picked 10 companies that were most popular among billionaire investors, as per Insider Monkey’s billionaire database of Q4 2024. The stocks are ranked according to the number of billionaires having stakes in them.
At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with hedge funds. 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)
Number of Billionaire Holders: 23
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. In recent years, weight loss drugs have become an important growth area for the pharmaceutical industry, and Eli Lilly’s move into the GLP-1 market has been particularly successful. In addition to its progress with GLP-1 therapies, the company has gained momentum with its cancer drug, Verzenio, which, following multiple FDA approvals, has helped strengthen its position in oncology. The stock has surged by nearly 14% since the start of 2025.
Analysts also pointed out that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) treatments represent another major opportunity for Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY), as the AD market is expected to grow into the tens of billions of dollars over the coming years. Despite its potential, the market remains fragmented, with limited competition and many drugs focusing only on specific symptoms. Last summer, Lilly gained FDA approval for its AD drug, Kisunla. While weight loss treatments are expected to continue driving most of the company’s revenue for now, Kisunla is seen as a significant contributor to Lilly’s long-term growth as it expands in the Alzheimer’s field.
Alongside its strong pipeline, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) has maintained a solid track record of rewarding shareholders, increasing its dividends for 11 consecutive years. The company pays a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, offering a dividend yield of 0.68%, as of April 27.
With over 5.2 million shares, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management was the company’s largest stakeholder in Q4.
Overall, LLY ranks 1st on our list of the best long-term dividend stocks according to billionaires. While we acknowledge the potential of LLY 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 time frame. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued dividend stock that is more promising than LLY but that trades at 10 times its earnings and grows its earnings at double digit rates annually, check out our report about the dirt cheap dividend stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.