Cisco is just four basis points behind (NasdaqGS: INTC) for the honor of being the largest holding in the increasingly popular First Trust NASDAQ Technology Dividend Index Fund (NasdaqGM: TDIV). Cisco’s heft in TDIV is the result of the company’s growing status as a legitimate dividend stock.
California-based Cisco did not pay a dividend until 2011 when it introduced a quarterly payout of six cents per share. The company has since more than tripled its dividend to 19 cents per share per quarter and currently yields 3.3%. That means Cisco has a higher dividend yield than fellow Dow components Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), just to name a few.
Cisco accounts for 8.33% of TDIV’s weight and has been one of the primary contributors to the ETF’s 3.7% rise this year. With help from Cisco, the technology sector is becoming more of a dividend destination than it has ever been, helping explain why over $186 million of TDIV’s $478.3 million in assets under management has come into the ETF just this year. [Dividends Soar in the First Quarter]
iShares North American Tech-Multimedia Networking ETF
Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of Coca-Cola, Cisco, Intel, Procter & Gamble and QQQ.