These two tech giants just raised their dividends

Article Excerpt

Recent changes to the U.S. tax code have let Microsoft and Intel tap their large overseas cash balances at a much lower tax rate. That cash will help fuel their growth, and lead to more dividend hikes. MICROSOFT CORP. $91 (Nasdaq symbol MSFT; High- Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 7.7 billion; Market cap: $700.7 billion; Dividend yield: 1.8%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.microsoft.com) is the world’s largest software company. Its Windows operating system powers about 90% of the world’s personal computers. The company last raised its quarterly payment by 7.6% in December 2017, to $0.42 a share from $0.39. The new annual rate of $1.68 yields 1.8%. Microsoft’s recent growth mostly stems from its 2014 decision to shift to cloud-computing services: Instead of buying its software as a one-time purchase, clients now access that software online through subscriptions. They can also store data files using remote servers. In the fiscal 2018 second quarter, ended December 31, 2017, the…