Updated on March 7th, 2025 by Bob Ciura
Kevin O’Leary is Chairman of O’Shares Investment Advisors, but you probably know him as “Mr. Wonderful”.
He can be seen on CNBC as well as the television show Shark Tank. Investors who have seen him on TV have likely heard him discuss his investment philosophy.
Mr. Wonderful looks for stocks that exhibit three main characteristics:
First, they must be quality companies with strong financial performance and solid balance sheets.
Second, he believes a portfolio should be diversified across different market sectors.
Third, and perhaps most important, he demands income—he insists the stocks he invests in pay dividends to shareholders.
You can download the complete list of all of O’Shares Investment Advisors stock holdings by clicking the link below:
OUSA owns stocks that display a mix of all three qualities. They are market leaders with strong profits, diversified business models, and they pay dividends to shareholders.
The list of OUSA portfolio holdings is an interesting source of quality dividend growth stocks.
This article analyzes the fund’s largest holdings in detail.
Table of Contents
The top 10 holdings from the O’Shares FTSE U.S. Quality Dividend ETF are listed in order of their weighting in the fund, from lowest to highest.
No. 10: Cisco Systems (CSCO)
Dividend Yield: 2.6%
Percentage of Portfolio: 3.36%
Cisco Systems is the global leader in high performance computer networking systems. The company’s routers and switches allow networks around the world to connect to each other through the internet. Cisco also offers data center, cloud, and security products.
On February 12th, 2025, Cisco announced a 2.5% dividend increase in the quarterly payment to $0.41. That same day, Cisco announced results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025 for the period ending January 25th, 2025.
For the quarter, revenue grew 9.4% to $13.99 billion, which beat estimates by $120 million. Adjusted earnings-per-share of $0.94 compared favorably to adjusted earnings-per-share of $0.87 in the prior year and was $0.03 ahead of expectations.
Excluding the company’s recent acquisition of Splunk, total revenue grew 11% for the quarter. Networking fell 3% while Security grew 117%, Observability was up 47%, and Collaboration improved 1%. By region, the Americas increased 9%, Europe/Middle East/Africa was higher by 11%, and Asia-Pacific/Japan/China was up 8%.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Cisco Systems (CSCO) (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 9: McDonald’s Corporation (MCD)
Dividend Yield: 2.2%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 3.53%
McDonald’s is the world’s leading restaurant chain with 41,822 locations in about 119 countries at end of 2022. The highest store counts are in the US (13,449), China (5,903), Japan (2,982), France (1,560), and Canada (1,466).
Approximately 95% of the stores are franchised or licensed and the rest are company owned. However, the company owns about 55% of the real estate and 80% of the buildings in its network.
Total system sales were approximately $129.5B in 2023 and total revenue was around $25.5B in 2023.
On February 10th, McDonald’s reported Q4 2024 results. Total revenue came in at $6.38 billion, flat compared to Q4 2023, on 2% higher system-wide sales (adjusting for currency).
Diluted earnings were flat at $2.80 per share compared to $2.80 per share in comparable periods on pre-tax charges.
On a geographic basis, comparable sales were -1.4% in the US, +0.1% in the International Operated Markets, and +4.1% in the International Developmental Licensed Markets.
The firm’s focus on value deals and the McValue platform should boost traffic and sales.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on MCD (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 8: Merck & Co. (MRK)
Dividend Yield: 3.4%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 3.81%
Merck & Company is one of the largest healthcare companies in the world. Merck manufactures prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and animal health products.
Merck employs 68,000 people around the world and generates annual revenues of more than $63 billion.
Source: Investor Presentation
On February 4th, 2025, Merck announced fourth quarter and full year results for the period ending December 31st, 2024.
For the quarter, revenue improved 7% to $15.6 billion, which was $110 million above estimates. Adjusted earnings-per-share was $1.72 compared to $0.03 the prior year and $0.04 more than expected.
For the year, revenue increased 7% to $64.2 billion while adjusted earnings-per-share of $7.65.
Keytruda, which treats cancers such as melanoma that cannot be removed by surgery and non-small cell lung cancer, continues to be the key driver of growth for the company as sales for the drug were up 19% to $7.8 billion during the period.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on MRK (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 7: Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)
Dividend Yield: 0.47%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 3.92%
Alphabet is a technology conglomerate that operates several businesses such as Google search, Android, Chrome, YouTube, Nest, Gmail, Maps, and many more. Alphabet is a leader in many of the areas of technology that it operates.
On February 4th, 2025, Alphabet announced fourth quarter and full year results for the period ending December 31st, 2024. For the quarter, revenue grew 11.8% to $96.5 billion, but this was $170 million less than expected.
Adjusted earnings-per-share of $2.15 compared very favorably to $1.64 in the prior year and was $0.02 above estimates. For the year, revenue grew 14% to $350 billion while adjusted earnings-per-share of $8.04 compared to $5.80 in 2023.
Most businesses performed well during the period. For the quarter, revenue for Google Search, the largest contributor to results, grew 12.5% to $54 billion. YouTube ads increased 13.8% to $10.5 billion while Google Network declined 4.1% to just under $8 billion.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on GOOGL (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 6: MasterCard Inc. (MA)
Dividend Yield: 0.57%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 4.13%
MasterCard is a world leader in electronic payments. The company partners with 25,000 financial institutions around the world to provide an electronic payment network. MasterCard has more than 3.1 billion credit and debit cards in use.
On January 30th, 2025, MasterCard announced fourth quarter and full year results for the period ending December 31st, 2024.
For the quarter, revenue improved 15.4% to $7.5 billion, which was $120 million above estimates. Adjusted earnings-per-share of $3.82 compared favorably to $3.18 in the prior year and was $0.13 more than expected.
For the year, revenue grew 12% to $28.2 billion while adjusted earnings-per-share of $14.60 compared to $12.26 in 2023.
On a local currency basis, gross dollar volumes for the quarter grew 12% worldwide to $2.56 trillion during the quarter, with the U.S. improving 9% and the rest of the world higher by 13%.
Cross border volumes remained strong, growing 20% from the prior year and 17% from Q3 2024.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Mastercard (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 5: Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
Dividend Yield: 0.86%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 4.52%
Microsoft Corporation manufactures and sells software and hardware to businesses and consumers. Its offerings include operating systems, business software, software development tools, video games and gaming hardware, and cloud services.
In late January, Microsoft reported (1/29/25) financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 (its fiscal year ends June 30th).
The company grew its revenue 12% over the prior year’s quarter. Growth came from Intelligent Cloud and Productivity & Business Processes, which grew 19% and 14%, respectively.
Sales of Azure, Microsoft’s high-growth cloud platform, grew 31%. Earnings-per-share grew 10%, from $2.94 to $3.23, and exceeded the analysts’ consensus by $0.13.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on MSFT (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 4: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Dividend Yield: 3.0%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 4.54%
Johnson & Johnson is a diversified health care company and a leader in the area of innovative medicines and medical devices Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886 and employs nearly 132,000 people around the world.
On January 22nd, 2025, Johnson & Johnson announced fourth quarter and full year results for the period ending December 31st, 2024.
Source: Investor Presentation
For the quarter, revenue grew 5.1% to $22.5 billion, which beat estimates by $50 million. Adjusted earnings-per-share of $2.04 compared to $2.29 in the prior year, but this was $0.02 above expectations.
For the year, revenue grew 4.3% to $88.8 billion while adjusted earnings-per-share of $9.98 was up slightly from the prior year. Results included adjustments related to the costs of acquisitions.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on JNJ (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 3: Home Depot (HD)
Dividend Yield: 2.5%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 4.95%
Home Depot was founded in 1978 and since that time has grown into a juggernaut home improvement retailer with over 2,300 stores in the US, Canada and Mexico that generate around $153 billion in annual revenue.
Home Depot reported fourth quarter 2025 results on February 25th, 2025. The company reported sales of $39.7 billion, up 14% year-over-year. Comparable sales in the quarter increased 0.8%.
Net earnings equaled $3.0 billion, or $3.02 per share, compared to $2.8 billion, or $2.82 per share in Q4 2023. Adjusted EPS was $3.13.
Average ticket improved 0.3% compared to last year, from $88.87 to $89.11. Additionally, sales per retail square foot rose 1.2% from $550.50 to $556.90.
The company spent $649 million on common stock repurchases in 2024, compared to $8.0 billion in the prior year.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on HD (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 2: Apple (AAPL)
Dividend Yield: 0.42%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 5.14%
Apple is a technology company that designs, manufactures, and sells products such as iPhones, iPads, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple also has a services business that sells music, apps, and subscriptions.
On January 30th, 2025, Apple reported financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 (Apple’s fiscal year ends the last Saturday in September).
Total sales grew 4% over the prior year’s quarter, to a new record of $124.3 billion, thanks to sustained growth in iPhone, iPad and Wearables across all regions.
Earnings-per-share grew 10%, from $2.18 to $2.40, and exceeded the analysts’ consensus by $0.05. Notably, Apple has missed the analysts’ estimates only once in the last 25 quarters.
Going forward, Apple’s earnings growth will be driven by several factors. One of these is the ongoing cycle of iPhone releases, which creates lumpy results. In the long run, Apple should be able to grow its iPhone sales, albeit in an irregular fashion.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on AAPL (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 1: Visa Inc. (V)
Dividend Yield: 0.70%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 5.86%
Visa is the world’s leader in digital payments, with activity in more than 200 countries. The company’s global processing network provides secure and reliable payments around the world and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transactions a second.
On January 30th, 2025, Visa reported first quarter 2025 results for the period ending December 31st, 2024. (Visa’s fiscal year ends September 30th.)
For the quarter, Visa generated revenue of $9.5 billion, adjusted net income of $5.5 billion and adjusted earnings-per-share of $2.75, marking increases of 10%, 11% and 14%, respectively.
These results were driven by a 9% gain in Payments Volume, a 16% gain in Cross-Border Volume and an 11% gain in Processed Transactions. Visa processed 63.8 billion transactions in the quarter.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Visa (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Final Thoughts
Kevin O’Leary has become a household name due to his appearances on the TV show Shark Tank. But he is also a well-known asset manager, and his investment philosophy largely aligns with Sure Dividend’s.
Specifically, Mr. Wonderful typically invests in stocks with large and profitable businesses, with strong balance sheets and consistent dividend growth every year.
Not all of these stocks are currently rated as buys in the Sure Analysis Research Database, which ranks stocks based on expected total return due to a combination of earnings per share growth, dividends, and changes in the price-to-earnings multiple.
However, several of these 10 stocks are valuable holdings for a long-term dividend growth portfolio.
Additional Resources
If you are interested in finding more high-quality dividend growth stocks suitable for long-term investment, the following Sure Dividend databases will be useful:
The major domestic stock market indices are another solid resource for finding investment ideas. Sure Dividend compiles the following stock market databases and updates them monthly:
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