Apple Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), Intel Corporation (INTC) – Dividends, Valuation, and Growth: The Perfect Combination

Some investors look for growth in their investments. Others look for value. While those are both good, other investors are looking for cash. After all, “cash is king.” Now, imagine if there were companies that offer all 3. Well, I’ve found a few that may spark your interest.

The beauty of cash

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is well aware of how powerful cash is. But surprisingly, it is not at the head of the tech industry in this regard. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) holds that position, but by no means is Apple struggling.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) plans to build a 2.8 million square foot, four-story, circular “spaceship” as its new headquarters. The incredible part is it could pay cash for it and only use 13% of what it has on the balance sheet. The company currently sits on approximately $39.1 billion of cash.

Surprisingly, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has a mountain of cash worth $74.5 billion – nearly double that of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) doesn’t hold as much cash as either, but with over $10 billion, it is certainly in good shape.  So where does the cash go?  Some of it goes to dividends.

Dividend history

Quite frankly, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) doesn’t have much of a history. The company has only issued dividends for two years, with one increase.  But this could be a perfect example of a company with a short dividend history and a bright future.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) have a much longer more predictable history of dividends. In fact, both companies have increased their dividend payouts for ten consecutive years. That’s a track record worth watching.

Cash per share

The graph below shows how these three companies compare to some of the other major tech companies.

It might be worth noting that neither Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) nor Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) currently offer dividends. And while this may change in the future, for now, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), Microsoft, and Apple are the only three on this chart that payout cash.

Dividend yield

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) have dividend yields of 2.5% and 2.6%, respectively. Apple’s dividend yield will likely soar in the next 18 months as it plans to release $100 billion to its shareholders by 2015.

Intel, however, steals the blue ribbon in this area.  With a dividend yield approximately 1% higher than both Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), its clear why tech dividend lovers may fall for this company.

A lot of dividend stocks won’t provide much value for investors, let alone growth. Relax, this is not the case with these 3 tech giants.