In conjunction with the recent stock market activity, I continue to be active in my Portfolio.  Therefore, I’m posting about my recent transactions again, as I don’t want to fall too far behind.

This time around I’ve got 10 more transactions to cover, 3 sales and 7 purchases.  All of these transactions took place over the last two trading weeks.

My previous batch of transactions was a reallocation of stocks within my Portfolio.  This batch is essentially the same, however, this time I did end up with a net investment of capital.

For the sales, I closed out 1 position, and trimmed 2 others.  For the purchases, I added to 3 existing positions (one stock I added to twice) and initiated 3 new positions.  The 3 new positions were stocks that I’ve been looking to add to my Portfolio for a while.  The stock prices became favorable enough for me to make the additions.

Let’s check out the details of this most recent Portfolio reallocation.

 

Automatic Data Processing (ADP)

This most recent ADP addition is now my 5th ADP purchase in the past month, so the position is growing quickly.

On 3/11/20, I purchased 5 shares of ADP at $147.50/sh, for a total of $737.50.  My ADP share total now stands at 35.

The stock yielded 2.47% at my purchase price (below my current Portfolio average of 3.95%).

This purchase resulted in the addition of $18.20 in annual forward dividend income.

ADP is currently well below this last purchase price of mine, so I’ll try to add again when I have the opportunity.

 

Crown Castle International (CCI)

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been trimming my CCI position, raising capital to fund other purchases within my Portfolio.

This time though, I sold the remainder of my CCI shares, closing out the position and reducing my REIT allocation further.

On 3/13/20, I sold my last 25.504 shares at $147.50/sh.  After the SEC fee, the sale proceeds were $3,761.76.  At my sale price, CCI shares yielded 3.25%.

The sale resulted in a long-term capital gain of $1,738.74.

A reduction of $122.42 in annual forward dividend income also occurred with the sale.

I could see myself adding CCI back to my Portfolio in the future, as I do like the dividend growth it offers for a REIT.  However, with the stock price appearing fully valued and wanting to purchase other stocks at prices not seen in quite some time, I decided to sell.

 

Broadcom (AVGO)

I started my AVGO position about 2 months ago, and the stock price has proceeded to decline quite a bit during that time.  However, that’s giving me a chance to average down my cost basis.

On 3/13/20, I purchased 10 shares of AVGO at $206.95/sh, for a total of $2,069.50.  The stock yielded 6.28% at my purchase price (over 2% higher than my Portfolio average).

On 3/16/20, I added 1 more share of AVGO at $191.11/sh, for a total of $191.11.  The stock yielded 6.80% at this purchase price.

These two purchases resulted in the addition of $143.00 in annual forward dividend income.

Both of these purchases came prior to the ex-dividend date and thus will contribute to a fairly substantial first dividend for me from AVGO.

 

Sysco (SYY)

Sysco is the largest foodservice distribution company in its industry.  They are primarily focused on the food-away-from-home business, but are now pivoting their business to better support the surge in demand from the retail grocery store segment (in response to the changes brought about by COVID-19).

SYY has had a stunning price drop in the past few weeks, thanks in part to their food-away-from-home business being impacted.

I was looking to initiate a position for a while at something below $65/sh.  However, the stock price dropped so quickly, I was able to start my position much lower that that.

On 3/13/20, I purchased 25 shares of SYY at $44.3263/sh, for a total of $1,108.16.  The stock yielded 4.06% at my purchase price (slightly above my current Portfolio average).

SYY starts out as the 2nd smallest position in my Portfolio, but I hope to purchase more and have it move up my Portfolio ranks.

The purchase resulted in the addition of $45.00 in annual forward dividend income.

As I do with new Portfolio positions, let’s take a quick look at SYY’s dividend growth history dating back to 2000…

 

 

SYY was growing its dividend nicely until hitting the wake of the Financial Crisis.  It took longer than I would have imagined for SYY to pick up its growth rate again, but things started to look better starting in 2017.  The last dividend raise (November) was a healthy 15.38%.  This will perk up the growth rates in 2020 over all the reporting periods.

The payout ratio for SYY is currently around 47%.  This leaves room for additional dividend growth in the future.

Even better, SYY currently sports a 49-year streak of consecutive annual dividend increases, meaning SYY is oh so close to becoming a Dividend King!

 

Caterpillar (CAT)

I added to my CAT position a couple of times in January, but nothing since then… until now.

During the recent market declines, CAT has dropped below the price I originally started my position at last August (~$117), and it continued to drop below $100/sh.

This is a position I want to build, and with the stock allowing me to average down while I build, I added a few shares.

On 3/13/20, I purchased 5 shares of CAT at $93.50/sh, for a total of $467.50.  My CAT position has grown to 35.297 shares.

The stock yielded 4.41% at my purchase price (above my Portfolio average).

This purchase resulted in the addition of $20.60 in annual forward dividend income.

 

Gilead Sciences (GILD)

I trimmed my GILD position about 18.2% approximately 3 weeks ago, and have now trimmed some more.  However, this time the trim percentage was a bit smaller at 11.6%.

On 3/16/20, I sold 13 shares at $72.4745/sh.  After the SEC fee, the sale proceeds were $942.15.  My GILD position has declined to 98.983 shares.  At my sale price, GILD shares yielded 3.75%.

GILD has held up well during these recent turbulent times in the market, but I decided to trim in order to fund other purchases that might offer better long-term share price performance.

I chose to sell a particular lot of GILD shares that I bought back on 12/3/2018.  This led to a long-term capital gain of $14.94.

A reduction of $35.36 in annual forward dividend income occurred with the sale.

 

Hormel Foods (HRL)

In an effort to drum up some additional cash for some new Portfolio positions (noted below) I trimmed my HRL position by over 31%.  While HRL is a Dividend King and a steady performer, it’s not a fast earnings grower.  So, I chose to reallocate some of the money I had invested there.

On 3/17/20, I sold 50 shares at $44.9777/sh.  After the SEC fee, the sale proceeds were $2,248.84.  My HRL position has now been reduced to 110.567 shares.  At my sale price, HRL shares yielded 2.07%.

The sale resulted in a long-term capital gain of $511.92.

A reduction of $46.50 in annual forward dividend income also occurred with the sale.

 

The Walt Disney Co. (DIS)

DIS needs no introduction, as it’s an entertainment powerhouse that most everyone is familiar with.

Unfortunately, in the presence of COVID-19 the company is currently dealing with park and store closures, cruise cancellations, and movie production stoppages, among other things.  Not to mention, DIS carries a sizable debt load at a time when cash is needed.  I’m sure this has all contributed to its falling stock price.

The stock price for DIS has declined rather rapidly from its all-time high of just over $150 set late last year.  I was looking to initiate a position below $105/sh., but it pulled back even further, and close to about a 5-year low when I decided to initiate my position.

On 3/17/20, I purchased 25 shares of DIS at $92.91/sh, for a total of $2,322.75.  The stock yielded 1.89% at my purchase price (a good 2% below my current Portfolio average).

While I’m happy with my initial purchase price, I suspect there could be more near-term pain for DIS shares.  If so, I’ll try to average down as I can.

The purchase resulted in the addition of $44.00 in annual forward dividend income.

Let’s examine the dividend growth history for DIS dating back to 2000…

 

 

The dividend growth history for DIS has been erratic at best.  There have been multiple dividend freezes, as well as changes from quarterly, to annual, to semi-annual dividend payments.

In addition, what dividend growth there is has been declining as we transition from longer to shorter reporting periods.

Also, DIS currently has a dividend freeze in place while it works to reduce its debt load.

The payout ratio for DIS is currently around 33%.  Its streak of consecutive annual dividend increases is only at 3 years, and it looks like it will return to 0.  I certainly didn’t buy DIS for its stellar dividend growth.

 

Microsoft (MSFT)

MSFT is another company that doesn’t need an introduction.  From their Windows operating system, to their Office suite, to their Azure cloud platform (just to mention a few), it’s hard to avoid the company’s software products and services.  MSFT even ‘dabbles’ in hardware (think of the Surface touchscreen-based PCs and the Xbox gaming platform).

I could never seem to find the right time to initiate a position in MSFT.  The stock price just seemed to climb steadily higher.

However, with the recent market turmoil, MSFT has retreated in price, enough for me to establish a position that I can build on.

On 3/17/20, I purchased 10 shares of MSFT at $137.565/sh, for a total of $1,375.65.  The stock yielded 1.48% at my purchase price (nearly 2.5% below my current Portfolio average).

This is another purchase helping me to meet my 2020 goal of increasing the weighting of my Information Technology holdings.  Also, I’m happy to have another company with a triple-A S&P credit rating in my Portfolio (joining JNJ).

Even at my purchase price (which is a nice drop from the 52-week high that eclipsed $190), a case could be made for MSFT being overvalued.  So, should the stock decline further, I’ll look to average down.

The purchase resulted in the addition of $20.40 in annual forward dividend income.

Here’s the dividend growth history for MSFT dating back to 2003, when the company initiated the dividend…

 

 

A lot more dividend growth consistency here compared to the DIS chart we viewed previously.

While the growth rate for MSFT has been slowing some in recent years, it seems to be settling in the 8%-10% range.  I’d take that for the foreseeable future.  MSFT certainly has a stockpile of cash and a cash flow to support a growing dividend many years into the future.

The payout ratio for MSFT is currently around 36%.  Its streak of consecutive annual dividend increases stands at 16 years and counting.

 

Summary

My Portfolio activity remained elevated in the past couple of weeks.  I would say the transactions were mostly a reallocation of Portfolio holdings.  However, some cash was invested during this period, too.

I had 3 sales, resulting in 1 position exited (CCI), and two positions trimmed (GILD & HRL)

I had 7 purchases, resulting in additions to some existing holdings (ADP, AVGO (twice) & CAT), as well as three new positions being established (SYY, DIS & MSFT).

The 3 sales resulted in a total long-term capital gain of $2,265.60.

The result of all the transactions was a net investment in my Portfolio of $1,319.42.  My annual forward dividend income had a net increase of $86.92.

With 1 position being closed out, and 3 positions being initiated, the number of stocks in my Portfolio increased to 51.

 

Are you making transactions in your Portfolio during this volatile time in the stock market?  Please share in the comments!