Top 4 Popular Dividend Stocks To Not Hold

And I’m ready to take your tomatoes… even though I’m right.

Instead of making another list of great stock picks, I decided to do the opposite today. I actually wrote about these companies over the past 12 months telling investors to sell them now before it’s too late. What makes them special is that they have tons of fans as they are very popular dividend paying companies. They often ace the first filtering processes due to their competitive advantage and good fundamentals. Their “brand” as a dividend paying stock is strong among investors but I feel that they offer more smoke than anything else. Many investors are blinded by the story told by these companies and tend to ignore the story that will happen in the years to come.

Those companies are on my black list and I don’t see them returning to my watch list anytime soon. In fact, I think each of them is a BIG SELL at the moment.

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3 Reasons to Buy Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Stock Right Now

Despite its unbelievable gains, it's not too late to jump into MSFT stock

When it comes to stocks, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is as blue chip as they come. The technology giant has been a portfolio staple for decades and has powered generations of investors with long-term gains.

In fact, had you bought MSFT stock when it went public back in 1986, you would have made nearly 67,000% on your investment. No wonder why Bill Gates is the richest person on the planet.

And MSFT stock continues to impress investors. Mr. Softy was up an impressive 16% last year alone. With such an extraordinary returns history, the question is, can shares of Microsoft continue to make some serious money for its investors going forward?

With the following three catalysts in play, the answer is a resounding yes. Microsoft is still one of the better long-term buys in tech.

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Buying Apple Inc. (AAPL) Stock for the Dividends? Don’t.

You can be bullish on AAPL stock because of its growth prospects, but income investors have far better options

Pacific Crest analyst Andy Hargreaves recently recommended that investors hold on to their Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares. But it’s not because of new iPhone sales, but rather, the impending Trump tax reform. That will enable Apple to repatriate foreign cash to be used for increased dividends to owners of AAPL stock.

“We see potential for further upside to our unit and gross profit dollar estimates in the coming iPhone cycle, but believe growth beyond that will slow substantially,” Hargreaves wrote in a note to clients. “Consequently, we believe tax reform and a subsequent increase to the dividend may be necessary to drive significant upside in AAPL.”

Seriously, if that’s why you’re hanging on to your Apple stock, do yourself a favor and sell now. There are better dividend stocks to own in industries with much less volatility and change.

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3 Attractive Healthy Dividend-Paying Market Gems

With volatility continuing to bedevil the stock market, investors are necessarily looking for protection through stocks that are paying decent dividends. So, many investors have become dividend-seeking players, but the ultimate and difficult question is how and where to find such companies that provide attractive dividend yields.

From the many groups of analysts engaged in this search, Morningstar has come up with attractive and diverse ways and methods of analyzing the various opportunities in the dividend-yielding areas.

Three stocks among the beaten down healthcare sector appear the most tempting -- and sufficiently attractive.

They are Sanofi, which pays a dividend yield of 3.7%, Pfizer with 3.6%, and Novartis which also provides a yield of 3.6%.

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