These 5 Dividend Stocks Pay $71 Billion a Year, Combined, to Their Shareholders

Though there are a lot of ways to make money on Wall Street, buying dividend stocks has been about as surefire a strategy as they come. Dividend-paying companies are often profitable, time-tested, and most importantly have run circles around non-dividend payers over the long run. While there are no shortage of dividend stocks for income investors to choose from, the following five companies are truly in a league of their own. You see, on a combined basis, they're parsing out $71 billion in dividend income annually to their shareholders.

No publicly traded company in the U.S. is going to pay out a larger dividend over the coming 12 months than software kingpin Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). Integrated oil and gas giant ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) continues to be a gusher on the dividend front. If you thought Microsoft's 0.9% yield is tiny, Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) 0.6% yield probably sounds microscopic. Another big-time dividend payer that income investors can "bank" on is money-center bank JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM). Last, but not least, healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) has just what the doctor ordered: an $11.15 billion annual payout to shareholders.

Source: NASDAQ

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