Covered, compounding — slowly. A 2.67% yield on a 57.7% trailing payout is covered income from a mature payer: $1.69 a quarter, raised in April 2026 by a penny, from $1.68, extending a streak of three decades of annual increases. Third-quarter 2026 revenue of $17.10 billion, up 5%, with software up 8%, and free-cash-flow guidance above the annual dividend total, back the rate — the flag is the pace of growth, not coverage.
Key risk: Slow growth and a heavy debt load — raises have been a penny a quarter since 2020, so income growth trails inflation, and roughly $61 billion of debt competes with the dividend for cash.
Changes if: Free cash flow falls toward the annual dividend total, or the trailing payout pushes well past 57.7%.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: 57.7% trailing — the $6.76 indicated dividend costs well under two-thirds of trailing earnings, and free-cash-flow guidance for 2026 sits above the annual dividend total.
- ✓Yield check: 2.67% indicated — $1.69/qtr × 4 at the $253.56 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Real, earned yield for a single stock, not a special or a return of capital.
- ✓Dividend growth check: Three decades of annual increases; the latest raise, in April 2026, lifted the quarterly dividend a penny, from $1.68 to $1.69, payable Jun. 10, 2026 — the same penny-a-year pace as since 2020.
What this grade doesn't say: It screens the dividend only — covered, real, compounding. It says nothing about valuation or price: a well-covered payer can still be overpriced, and its price can still fall.