After a dreadful start to 2022, the market has perked up some, after both the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the Russell 2000 had dipped into bear market land with 20%+ declines this year. Despite a witch’s brew of troubling events, not the least of which is the war in Ukraine, the risk-on crowd has held serve much of this month. Friday’s nonfarm job report for March is the big data point for investors, and while much of the quarterly index rebalancing took place during the quad witching options expiration earlier in March, a large amount remains in place this week. Plus, corporate buybacks have exploded.

With the S&P 500 up over 10% in past 11 trading days, something that has happened only twice since 2009, we could be nearing the end of this run. However, with the big tech stocks leading the way, we screened our 24/7 Wall St. research database for Buy-rated companies in the sector that also paid solid and dependable dividends. Seven stocks hit our screen, but it is important to remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

Broadcom

The company reported solid earnings in 2021, and its stock is a top pick across Wall Street for dividend growth. Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) has an extensive semiconductor product portfolio that addresses applications within the wired infrastructure, wireless communications, enterprise storage and industrial end markets.

Applications for Broadcom’s products in its end markets include data center networking, home connectivity, broadband access, telecommunications equipment, smartphones and base stations, servers and storage, factory automation, power generation and alternative energy systems and displays.

The BofA analysts and many on Wall Street are very positive on the company’s massive $10 billion share repurchase authorization, which represents about 4.2% of the company’s market cap.

Broadcom stock investors receive a 2.59% dividend. The BofA Securities price target is a Wall Street high $780, while the consensus target is $685.32. The stock closed trading Tuesday at $641.47 a share.

Cisco

Investors who are more conservative may want to consider this mega-cap tech leader, which recently posted outstanding results. Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) designs, manufactures and sells internet protocol (IP) based networking products and services related to the communications and information technology industry worldwide.
Cisco provides switching products, including fixed-configuration and modular switches, and storage products that provide connectivity to end users, workstations, IP phones, wireless access points and servers, as well as next-generation network routing products that interconnect public and private wireline and mobile networks for mobile, data, voice and video applications.

Its cybersecurity products give clients the scope, scale and capabilities to keep up with the complexity and volume of threats. Putting security above everything helps corporations innovate while keeping their assets safe.

Shareholders receive a 2.68% dividend. J.P. Morgan’s $69 target price on Cisco Systems stock compares with the $63.91 consensus target and Tuesday’s close at $55.67.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

This spin-off from a Silicon Valley legend holds solid upside potential. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE: HPE) provides solutions that allow customers to capture, analyze and act upon data seamlessly.

The company offers general purpose servers for multi-workload computing and workload-optimized servers; HPE ProLiant rack and tower servers; HPE BladeSystem, HPE Synergy and HPE ProLiant; storage solutions; and solutions for secondary workloads and traditional tape, storage networking and disk products, such as HPE Modular Storage Arrays and HPE XP. It also offers HPE Apollo and Cray products, as well as HPE Superdome Flex, HPE Nonstop, HPE Integrity, HPE Moonshot, and HPE Edgeline products.

HPE provides mobility and Internet of Things solutions under the Aruba brand, which include Wi-Fi access points, switches, routers and sensors; cloud-based management, network management, network access control, analytics and assurance, and location services; and professional and support services, as well as as-a-service and consumption models for the intelligent edge portfolio of products.

The company also offers various leasing, financing, IT consumption, and utility programs and asset management services for customers to facilitate technology deployment models and the acquisition of complete IT solutions, including hardware, software, and services from HPE and others. Further, the company invests in communications and media solutions, Hewlett Packard labs, and various business incubation projects.

Investors receive a 2.76% dividend. Raymond James has set a $21 price target. The consensus target for Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock is $18.16. The shares closed on Tuesday at $17.56.

This blue-chip giant is still offering investors a very solid entry point. International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is a leading provider of enterprise solutions, offering a broad portfolio of information technology (IT) hardware, business and IT services, and a full suite of software solutions.

The company integrates its hardware products with its software and services offerings in order to provide high-value solutions. Analysts have cited the company’s potential in the public cloud as a reason for their positive outlook going forward.

The company posted a very solid fourth quarter. The cloud proved to be big in the earnings reports, as did Red Hat, the software giant the firm bought in 2019. Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud technologies are now paired with the unmatched scale and depth of IBM’s innovation and industry expertise and sales leadership in more than 175 countries.

Investors receive a 5.00% dividend. The IBM price target at BofA Securities is $162. The $143.47 consensus target is closer to Tuesday’s closing print of $131.94.

Intel

This legacy leader in semiconductors has continued working hard to focus more on Internet of Things and data center cloud spending. Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) designs, manufactures and sells integrated digital technology platforms worldwide.

The platforms are used in various computing applications, comprising notebooks, two-in-one systems, desktops, servers, tablets, smartphones, wireless and wired connectivity products, wearables, retail devices and manufacturing devices, as well as for retail, transportation, industrial, buildings, home use and other market segments.

The company announced in January it would invest up to $100 billion to build potentially the world’s largest chip-making complex in Ohio, looking to boost capacity as a global shortage of semiconductors affects everything from smartphones to automobiles.

Shareholders receive a 2.83% dividend. The $70 Credit Suisse price target is well above the $54.01 consensus. Intel stock’s closing price on Tuesday was $52.25 per share.

Juniper Networks

This is another familiar name that could offer among the best total return potential. Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) designs, develops and sells network products and services worldwide. The company offers various routing products, such as ACX series universal access routers to deploy new high-bandwidth services; MX series Ethernet routers that function as a universal edge platform; PTX series packet transport routers; and NorthStar controllers.
Juniper Networks also provides switching products, including EX series Ethernet switches to address the access, aggregation and core layer switching requirements of micro branch, branch office, and campus environments; QFX series of core, spine and top-of-rack data center switches; and Juniper access points, which provide wireless access and performance.

In addition, the company offers security products including SRX series services gateways for the data center; Branch SRX family provides an integrated firewall and next-generation firewall; virtual firewall that delivers various features of physical firewalls; and advanced malware protection, a cloud-based service and Juniper ATP.

Investors receive a 2.25% dividend. The KeyCorp price target is $46. Juniper Networks stock has a consensus target of $36.69, and shares closed at $37.69 on Tuesday.

Seagate

This disk drive giant is hitting on all cylinders and looks reasonable at current trading levels. Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: STX) provides data storage technology and solutions in Singapore, the United States, the Netherlands and elsewhere.

The company offers hard disk and solid state drives, including serial advanced technology attachment, serial attached SCSI and non-volatile memory express products; solid state hybrid drives; and storage subsystems. Its products are used in enterprise servers and storage systems and edge compute and non-compute applications.

Seagate also provides an enterprise data solutions portfolio, comprising storage subsystems and mass capacity optimized private cloud storage solutions for enterprises, cloud service providers and scale-out storage servers and original equipment manufacturers. In addition, it offers external storage solutions under the Seagate Backup Plus and Expansion product lines, as well as under the LaCie and Maxtor brands in capacities up to 16 terabytes.

Shareholders enjoy a 3.03% dividend. For Seagate Technology stock, BofA Securities has a price objective of $130. The consensus target is $102.90, and the last trade for Tuesday hit the tape at $93.65.

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These seven top technology companies hit all the metrics and also pay out solid and dependable dividends. Given the recent market volatility and the big rally, it may make sense to scale buy into a position in one or more of these top companies. While at the margin they may be somewhat “safer” ideas, with all the current issues, both geopolitical and domestic, there still is a good chance we could see more downside action in May after first-quarter earnings and projections for the rest of the year are posted.

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