High research costs protect your dividends

Article Excerpt

Technology stocks tend to carry more risk than other dividend-paying stocks such as banks and utilities. That’s because new technologies can quickly make their current product obsolete. However, Microsoft and Cisco continue to invest heavily in their businesses, which should fuel their profits—and your dividends—for years to come. MICROSOFT CORP. $338 is a buy. The company (Nasdaq symbol MSFT; High-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 7.5 billion; Market cap: $2.5 trillion; Dividend yield: 0.7%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.microsoft.com) is the world’s largest computer software company. Its main product is the Windows operating system, which powers about 85% of the world’s personal computers. Its other main product—its Office suite, with its word processor (Word), spreadsheets (Excel) and slide presentations (PowerPoint)—controls over half of its market. The company will increase its quarterly dividend by 10.7% with the December 2021 payment to $0.62 from $0.56. The new annual rate of $2.48 a share yields 0.7%. The company’s board also approved a new $60 billion…