While on the surface it appears that the stock market has had an incredible first five months, especially compared with 2022, in reality it has just been a handful of stocks that have lifted the Nasdaq up a stunning 25% and the S&P 500 up almost 10%. Just to prove how narrow the rally has been, the venerable Dow Jones industrials were actually down 0.13% in 2023 as of Friday’s close.

So what are growth stock investors to do? Chase the rally that has been driven by the innovations in artificial intelligence? There is always a chance it continues higher, but with Nvidia’s market cap over $1 trillion after Tuesday’s close, it looks as though much of the money has been made.

We screened our 24/7 Wall St. technology universe looking for stocks that still have upside from current levels and are rated Buy but also come with dependable dividends. That way, if the rally stalls, there is a reason to hold on to these quality, and in some cases, old-school names.

It is important to remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

Cisco

Investors who are more conservative may want to consider this mega-cap tech leader, which recently posted outstanding quarterly 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.

The networking giant posted solid fiscal first-quarter results that beat earnings expectations, and it offered up strong forward guidance.

Investors receive a 3.13% dividend. Credit Suisse has a $69 target price on Cisco Systems stock, while the consensus target is $56.28 and Tuesday’s closing share price was $50.17.

Corning

This company continues to be a huge player in the fiber optic world. Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) is a technology pioneer that manufactures LCD glass for flat-panel displays for multiple product lines.
Telecommunications (30% of Corning’s sales) produces optical fiber and cable, component hardware and equipment, and photonic components for the telecommunications, CATV and networking industry. In addition, the company’s Environmental Technologies division (12% of sales) produces specialized glass, glass ceramic and polymer-based products for the automotive industry.

Shareholders receive a 3.55% dividend. J.P. Morgan’s price target is $40, and Corning stock has a consensus target of $37.00. The shares closed on Tuesday at $31.16 apiece.

Dell Technologies

This high-quality company pays a solid dividend, but its shares have been hit hard. Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL) designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells and supports information technology (IT) hardware, software and services solutions worldwide. It operates through three segments.

Infrastructure Solutions Group provides traditional and next-generation storage solutions, and rack, blade, tower and hyperscale servers. It also offers networking products and services that help its business customers to transform and modernize their infrastructure, mobilize and enrich end-user experiences and accelerate business applications and processes. It also offers attached software and peripherals, as well as support and deployment, configuration and extended warranty services.

The Client Solutions Group offers desktops, notebooks and workstations; displays and projectors; attached and third-party software and peripherals; as well as support and deployment, configuration and extended warranty services.

The VMware segment supports customers in the areas of hybrid and multi-cloud, modern applications, networking, security and digital workspaces, helping customers to manage IT resources across private clouds and complex multi-cloud, multi-device environments.

Dell also provides information security and cloud software and infrastructure-as-a-service solutions that enable customers to migrate, run, and manage mission-critical applications in cloud-based IT environments.

Dell Technologies stock comes with a 3.08% dividend. Credit Suisse has set a $50 price target. The consensus target is $48.67, and Tuesday’s final trade was for $47.32 a share.

IBM

This blue chip giant still offers investors who are more conservative an incredibly solid entry point, a massive dividend and a degree of safety. International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) provides integrated solutions and services worldwide through the following four business segments.
IBM’s Software segment offers hybrid cloud platform and software solutions, such as Red Hat, an enterprise open-source solutions; software for business automation, AIOps and management, integration, and application servers; data and artificial intelligence solutions; and security software and services for threat, data and identity. This segment also provides transaction processing software that supports clients’ mission-critical and on-premise workloads in banking, airlines and retail industries.

The Consulting segment offers business transformation services, including strategy, business process design and operations, data and analytics, and system integration services; technology consulting services; and application and cloud platform services.

The Infrastructure segment provides on-premises and cloud-based server and storage solutions for its clients’ mission-critical and regulated workloads; and support services and solutions for hybrid cloud infrastructure, as well as remanufacturing and remarketing services for used equipment.

The Financing segment offers lease, installment payment, loan financing and short-term working capital financing services.

The dividend yield here is 5.15%. The $158 Stifel price target is well above the $140.79 consensus target, and IBM stock closed on Tuesday at $129.48.

Juniper Networks

This is another familiar name that could offer among the best in 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.

Juniper Networks stock investors receive a 2.89% dividend. The J.P. Morgan price target is $42. The posted consensus target is $35.74. On Tuesday, shares closed at $30.69.

This disk drive giant 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 4.66% dividend. Seagate Technology stock has an $82 price target at Mizuho Securities. The $62.83 consensus target is much closer to the most recent close at $61.00 a share.

Texas Instruments

This old-school semiconductor company offers solid value at current levels and is a great pick for investors who are more conservative. Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) is a broad-based supplier of semiconductor components, ranging from digital signal processors to high-performance analog components, to digital light-processing technology and calculators.

Some 65% of the company’s sales are exposed to the well-diversified, business-to-business industrial, automotive, communications infrastructure and enterprise markets. While business from those sectors, especially automotive, could suffer in the near term, the analyst feels the solid dividend should support the shares.

The company is also a big Apple supplier, so the long-term outlook for this venerable leader makes it a safer bet for investors with less risk tolerance.

Investors receive a 2.81% dividend. BMO Capital Markets has a $215 price target. The consensus target is $180.82, and Texas Instruments stock closed at $176.55 on Tuesday.

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These seven top technology companies all have paid strong and dependable dividends for years and each has carved out a specific silo in which it excels. It should be noted that technology is indeed volatile, and should the market take another big leg down, they can get hit harder than more conservative ideas. Yet, for those with a higher risk tolerance and time on their side, these seven stocks make good sense now.

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