Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) has a record cash and equivalents of $128B as of the end of the third quarter, but has made very few recent moves with it, according to Barron's Andrew Bary. Berkshire's only major investment this year was a $10B preferred stock investment in Occidental Petroleum (OXY), and Berkshire's Q3 regulatory filing shows only $15.1B of equity purchases for 2019, far below the $38.6B from the first three quarters of 2018. Berkshire did trim positions in Apple (AAPL) and Wells Fargo (WFC), however. Berkshire has also "done little on the acquisition front," Bary added. With Berkshire inactive in both investments and acquisitions, and only buying back $2.8B of its own stock so far in 2019, cash continues to pile up. This "frustrates some Berkshire holders who would like to see Buffett return more cash to shareholders," and Bary noted that Berkshire's buyback is "running at less than 1% of the shares outstanding and Berkshire pays no dividend." This may be showing in the stock's performance, as Berkshire shares are up less than 8% this year, well behind the 25% rise in the S&P 500. Reference Link

While Disney's (DIS) Disney+ streaming service got off to a fast start, with 10M sign-ups just one day after its launch this week, Barron's Eric Savitz questioned whether the company would be able to keep them and continue to add. LightShed Partners analyst Rich Greenfield said the app is "beautiful" and showed "pent-up demand for the product," but he added that "there is not much to do unless you love watching old movies," once users watch the one episode available of The new Star Wars show The Mandalorian. Greenfield said, "We wonder whether new users without young kids will churn at a high rate until the content offering expands." Reference Link

Barron's recommended Medtronic (MDT) just over two years ago, and Barron's Jack Hough said it still looks attractive, at 19 times forward earnings estimates, with a 2% dividend. Additionally, newly published study results suggest that Medtronic's Micra could treat a dual-chamber condition called atrioventricular block in addition to a single heart chamber, and the company is applying for expanded approval. This could give the device "another 40% of the market," Hough believes, adding that Medtronic could launch a dual-chamber device as soon as early next year. Reference Link

Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) is a defensive name that has loyal customers and can "withstand an inevitable slowdown," according to Barron's Nicholas Jasinski. The company, which "processes and distributes investor communications for nearly every public company," must be used regardless if the market is up or down, as companies must communicate with shareholders and distribute reports mandated by the SEC. Last year, 97% of Broadridge's fee-paying business was renewed, Jasinki noted. Additionally, Broadridge is transitioning to digital, allowing it to charge for digital distribution without the costs of shipping physical documents. "They're very much involved in the capital markets, but they're not as exposed to the fluctuations of the capital markets," said Jensen Investment Management portfolio manager Allen Bond. "Broadridge is one of the best dividend growth stocks you've never heard of," added Evercore ISI analyst David Togut. Reference Link

In this week's Barron's cover story, Lawrence Strauss wrote that "for investors who are saving for retirement, dividend stocks are a crucial building block." He noted that Columbia Dividend Income fund has had success with a total-return strategy, with a 10-year annual return of 12.2%, had top holdings including JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Microsoft (MSFT), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and Merck (MRK). For those not interested in a fund, Buckingham suggested dividend stock it believed were undervalued -- Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Amgen (AMGN), AT&T (T), KeyCorp (KEY), Synchrony Financial (SYF), and Prudential Financial (PRU). Also suggested was the Vanguard Dividend Growth fund, with its top holdings in "high-quality and defensive companies," including Coca-Cola (KO), Medtronic (MDT), and McDonald's (MCD). Reference Link