Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Class A (NYSE: BRK-A) lists numerous dividend stocks among its holdings, with the highest-yielding companies returning at least 3%. These dividend-paying stocks have created over $680 billion in value for shareholders, who have seen a 20.1% average annual return on BRK’s Class A shares. 

In summer 2022, 30 of 47 current Berkshire Hathaway-owned stocks pay dividends. 

As of this month, the top 10 ranged from 2.9% to 5.27% in annual yields, and 45 of the 47 went between 3.87% and 101.11% per broker's estimated price target upsides.

Of the nearly 50 stocks in Buffett’s portfolio, four of its higher dividend-paying stocks currently provide superior yield.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) 

• Dividend yield: 0.55%
• Shares held: 894,802,319
• Holding value: $122,337,373,000
• Percent of portfolio: 40.76%

While Apple’s dividend yield may be a mere 0.55%, it still contributes a large portion to Berkshire Hathaway’s income stream simply due to the number of shares held. 

In Q1 2022, Berkshire Hathaway took advantage of a short-term drop to buy an additional 3.8 million shares, or 0.3%, to add its already healthy Apple holdings. Buffett, over the years, has made no secret that he loves Apple, and it continues to be one of the few tech stocks he’s consistently invested in. 

In a CNBC interview, he said, "It's probably the best business I know in the world. And that is a bigger commitment than we have in any business except insurance and the railroad."

The investment has paid out handily, with a return of 444% since the end of Q1 2016 and four times better than the market.
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC)

• Dividend yield: 2.53%
• Shares held: 1,010,100,606
• Holding value: $31,444,432,000
• Percent of portfolio: 10.48%

Berkshire Hathaway has cut loose many of its bank-stock holdings over recent years but remains steadfast in its Bank of America investment as its largest shareholder. Buffett took an active interest in BAC 11 years ago when he put $5 billion into the bank during the recession and got a preferred stock yield of 6%, which allowed him to purchase Bank of America common stock at a considerable discount. He gained $12 billion in profit from that move alone. 

The Berkshire Hathaway stake in BAC is worth $31 billion and represents 10.5% of the company's total portfolio value. Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway is Bank of America's largest shareholder, at 12.6% of its shares outstanding.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

• Dividend yield: 3.98%
• Shares held: 55,155,797
• Holding value: $2,536,616,000
• Percent of portfolio: 0.85%

Kraft Heinz Co. (NASDAQ:KHC)

• Dividend yield: 4.17%
• Shares held: 325,634,818
• Holding value: $12,419,712,000
• Percent of portfolio: 4.14%

The reason for Buffett and others to invest in dividend stocks is simple. They consistently outperform stocks that don’t pay dividends. Berkshire Hathaway is on pace to collect more than $6 billion in passive income.

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