Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been increasing its dividends every year since the end of 2010. The last increase of 10.7% brought the quarterly dividend to $0.31. Dividend yield stands at 2.83%. The tech giant is in the process of launching its Surface Pro 3 tablet, which could come out as early as next month. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is very popular among hedge funds as 114 funds had $17.87 billion invested in the company at the end of the fourth quarter versus 119 hedge funds with $19.66 billion in the previous quarter. Jeffrey Ubben’s Valueact Capital holds some 74.24 million shares valued at $3.45 billion.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) sports a dividend yield of 3.44%. The last quarterly dividend hike came in the fourth quarter as payout rose to $0.85 from $0.81 in the third quarter. Mason Hawkins’ Southeastern Asset Management is the highest shareholder among over 700 hedge funds that we track, with 11.92 million shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) valued at $1.12 billion.
The fast food retailer is also undergoing a change in its business strategy to counteract two years of declining same-store sales, while the rest of the industry seems to be thriving. The company has also hired a new CEO, Steve Easterbrook, to guide its ship out of the choppy waters. As a recent development, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) is going to test an all-day breakfast in selected outlets during the next month or two.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) hasn’t decreased its dividends for 52 years and currently provides a dividend yield of 2.73%. Among the billionaires that we track, 10 had investments totalling $1.87 billion in the pharmaceutical company. Ken Fisher was one of them as his fund Fisher Asset Management held some 10.42 million shares valued at $1.09 billion. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is also one of hedge funds’ favorite Dow stocks. The stock of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is up by nearly 4.29% over the last 52 weeks.
Our last candidate, Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB), whose 4.73% dividend yield is also the highest on this list. Dividends have not been slashed for the past 12 years. The company’s stock has achieved capital gains of nearly 23% over the last year. Keith Meister’s Corvex Capital is a significant shareholder of the company with 41.68 million shares valued at $1.87 billion as of the end of 2014. Recently, Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE:WPZ), a Master Limited Partnership that was spun-off from Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB), has acquired Access Midstream Partners in a unit for unit share exchange at 0.86772 common units of Access Midsteam worth one unit of Williams Partners. Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE:WPZ), a Master Limited Partnership that was spun-off from Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB), recently acquired Access Midstream Partners in a unit for unit share exchange at 0.86772 common units of Access Midsteamw worth one of Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB)’s unit. The total value of the deal amounted to $50 billion.
Disclosure: none
