Here's how much Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway could make from Apple's dividend hike

MW Here's how much Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway could make from Apple's dividend hike

By Weston Blasi

Apple said it will increase its cash dividend by 4%, which is good news for Warren Buffett's company

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is about to get an even bigger check.

Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, famously loves stocks that pay dividends to shareholders and is therefore likely thrilled that Apple Inc. $(AAPL)$ announced Thursday it will increase its cash dividend by 4%, to 25 cents a share.

Berkshire $(BRK.B)$ owned over 905 million shares of Apple as of the end of last year, according to the company's latest 13-F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That represented roughly 6% of all of the tech giant's shares outstanding.

As a major shareholder in Apple, Berkshire is about to get a massive boost in its yearly dividend payout from the iPhone maker. Assuming Berkshire still owns the same amount of Apple shares as it previously disclosed, the company's quarterly payout from Apple would be $226.4 million, compared with the $217.3 million it would have seen if Apple hadn't hiked the dividend.

Over the next year, if Berkshire keeps its position constant, the company would be set to receive $905.6 million in Apple dividends, versus $869.4 million prior to the hike. That's an increase of more than $36 million for the year.

Whether Berkshire's Apple position has stayed the same size is a topic of interest on Wall Street. Apple shares have faced downbeat sentiment this year, prompting some speculation that Buffett and his team might have done some selling after making good money on their Apple bet in recent years.

Apple shares have lagged the broad market so far this year, falling 5% as the S&P 500 SPX has risen 8%.

The 93-year-old known as the Oracle of Omaha is seen as one of the most accomplished investors in history. He will preside over Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting on Saturday for the first time without Charlie Munger, the company's former vice chairman, who died in November.

Other dividend-paying companies that Buffett owns stock in include Coca-Cola Co. $(KO)$, Kraft Heinz Co. $(KHC)$ and Chevron Corp. $(CVX)$.

In addition to announcing the dividend increase on Thursday, Apple reported a 10% year-over-year decline in iPhone sales, upped its stock-buyback program by $110 billion and soothed some investor concerns about its business in China.

Read on: Apple's stock is seeing its best day in 1.5 years, but an existential question remains

Emily Bary contributed.

-Weston Blasi

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May 03, 2024 16:51 ET (20:51 GMT)

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