The First Trust NASDAQ Technology Dividend Index Fund (NasdaqGM: TDIV) is up nearly 19% in the past year and has raked in more than $186 million of its $478.3 million in assets under management since the start of 2014.
So it might be fair to say TDIV does not need much more help gaining fans, but there is nothing like some assistance from a widely-followed company such as Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL) to shine a brighter light on TDIV. [A Tech Dividend ETF for Conservative Investors]
Shares of the iPad maker surged 7.6% during Wednesday’s after-hours session after the company, among other announcements, said it will boost its quarterly dividend by 8% to $3.29 per share. At the start of this year, it was reported Apple would need to raise its dividend by at least 8% to become the largest U.S. dividend payer. The company has done that and the move could affect the stock’s position in TDIV.
TDIV tracks the NASDAQ Technology Dividend Index, which is rebalanced quarterly and “employs a modified dividend value weighting methodology. At each evaluation, the index securities are classified as technology or telecommunications based on their ICB classification. The technology securities are given a collective weight of 80% and the telecommunications securities are given a collective weight of 20% in the index. The index weighting methodology includes caps to prevent high concentrations among larger stocks,” according to First Trust.
Translation: TDIV’s constituent companies are weighted by total dividends paid over the past year, giving the ETF’s shareholders ample exposure to the largest dividend payers in the tech sector. That means after the ETF’s next rebalance, Apple could move up a spot or two in the lineup.