Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A)(NYSE:BRK-B) stands as one of the greatest wealth creators in the history of the stock market. From its origin as a struggling textile company to being built into the global conglomerate worth over $1 trillion that it is today, Berkshire has delivered unmatched returns for its early investors.
Key Points
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is the largest holding in Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio.
The technology giant has raised its annual dividend payment for 13 consecutive years and is due for another increase in the coming months.
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Berkshire’s largest holding today, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), needs no introduction. What began as a computer company in a garage has grown into one of the world’s most valuable companies through constant innovation. Game-changing products and services like the iPod, iPhone, and App Store have reshaped industries and transformed how people communicate, work, and entertain themselves.
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Berkshire’s Stake in Apple
Berkshire Hathaway currently owns 300 million shares of Apple, valued at approximately $67 billion. This position represents about 23.2% of Berkshire’s portfolio, making it the company’s largest single holding by a wide margin, well ahead of American Express (NYSE: AXP), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), and Chevron (NYSE: CVX). In total, Berkshire’s stake represents about 2% of Apple’s outstanding shares.
Apple currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, which amounts to an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and gives its stock a yield of approximately 0.45% at the time of this writing, which is well below the S&P 500 Index’s yield of about 1.3%.
To determine Berkshire Hathaway’s annual dividend income from Apple, we simply multiply its shares owned by the annual dividend per share:
Shares of Apple owned: 300,000,000
Annual dividend per share: $1.00
Total annual dividend: 300,000,000 × $1.00 = $300,000,000
Berkshire Hathaway will collect $300 million in dividends from Apple in 2025, which translates to $75 million per quarter or approximately $821,900 per day. But this will likely grow in the near future, which we will dive into next.
Apple’s impressive streak of dividend growth
Apple has consistently increased its dividend since it reinstated it in 2012. It has raised its annual dividend payment each year since, giving it a streak of 13 consecutive annual increases, with its last increase coming in May 2024 to the tune of 4.2%.
While its yield is relatively low compared to other dividend stocks, Apple makes up for it with aggressive stock buybacks. Apple regularly returns tens of billions of dollars to shareholders each year to reduce its share count and boost its earnings per share. For example, in the fourth quarter of 2024 alone, Apple returned over $29 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock buybacks. In all of 2024, dividends and share repurchases topped a whopping $110 billion.
Apple also traditionally raises its dividend in late April or early May each year, so investors should look for its next increase in the coming months. Its last three increases were by a penny per share, so if I had to guess, I would say Apple will raise its dividend by 4% to $0.26 per share. However, investors would likely prefer a bit more, such as a 6% increase to $0.265 per share.
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