Some Recent Sells

This last day of 2016, I'm posting another catch-up article – this time to report a few sells executed in December. Only one of the sells involved closing out a position. With the other three sells, I'm getting rid of shares held in my FolioInvesting brokerage account, but not the corresponding shares held in my Scottrade account.

Recall that my DivGro portfolio is distributed across several brokerage accounts. As far as possible, I try not to have the same stock in multiple accounts. I prefer simplicity, and splitting a position across multiple accounts adds unnecessary admin. When I consolidated all my brokerage accounts into the DivGro's fold, some duplicate positions came along for the ride.

Another reason I want to "clean things up" is to cater for options trading – specifically covered calls – which requires 100 shares for every options contract. Split positions across multiple accounts do not qualify for covered call trades. I'll be using the cash from these sells to round out more of my positions to 100 shares or multiples of 100 shares.

Following are details of four sell trades executed on 23 December.

The Walt Disney Company

On Wednesday I reported buying 100 shares of The Walt Disney Company (DIS) on 5 December before the ex-dividend date. I increased my position to 227 shares and will collect the semi-annual dividend of 78¢ in January on those 227 shares.

On 23 December, I sold 27 shares of DIS for $105.20 per share. As mentioned, these shares were in my FolioInvesting account, whereas the 200 remaining shares are in my Scottrade account. 

The average cost basis of the remaining shares is $99.24 and my yield on cost (YoC) is 1.57%. DivGro's projected annual dividend income (PADI) reduces by $42.12.

Here is a price chart depicting my buy and sell prices:
 Trading Summary

2015-01-27	Bought 27 shares of DIS at $94.32 per share:	$	2,546.58
2015-07-29	Dividend on 27 shares at 66¢ per share:	$	17.82
2015-01-11	Dividend on 27 shares at 71¢ per share:	$	19.17
2016-07-28	Dividend on 27 shares at 71¢ per share:	$	19.17
2016-12-23	Sold 27 shares of DIS at $105.20 per share:	$	2,840.34
2017-01-11	Dividend on 27 shares at 78¢ per share:	$	21.06
	Capital gain:	$	293.70
	Dividends received:	$	77.22
	Commissions/fees/taxes:	$	0.00
	Net gain:	$	370.98

I made a net gain of 14.57% on the original amount invested, or 7.64% annualized.

PennantPark Investment Corp

I bought 215 shares of PennantPark Investment Corp (PNNT) in September 2013 when I was a rookie dividend growth investor. One can easily argue that I made the classic mistake of chasing yield. The company paid dividends of 28¢ per quarter, so my initial yield on cost (YoC) was a whopping 9.63%.

Unfortunately, PNNT froze its dividend right when I bought those shares. Rather than sell the shares, I argued that I could afford to take on more risk for such a high yield. Not long after buying the shares, PNNT took a nosedive all the way down to $4.65:

I considered cutting my losses on several occasions, but taking such a big loss would have been rather painful. Fortunately, the share price started to recover, though getting back to $11.63 is still a long way off!

Earlier this year I decided to buy more shares in hopes of accelerating the recovery. So far, the trade is paying off and I'm up a few percentage points overall. However, I decided to sell the original shares now and to keep the new batch (785 shares) a little longer.

So on 23 December, I sold 215 shares of PNNT for $7.76 per share. As a result, DivGro's PADI is decreased by $240.80.

Following is an updated chart showing my original entry price and the exit price:


Though the trade looks like a big losing trade, PNNT's dividends made up for the capital loss:

Trading Summary

2013-09-10	Bought 215 shares of PNNT at $11.62 per share:	$	2,498.37
2013-10-01	Dividend on 215 shares at 28¢ per share:	$	60.20
2014-01-02	Dividend on 215 shares at 28¢ per share:	$	60.20
2014-04-01	Dividend on 215 shares at 28¢ per share:	$	60.20
2014-07-01	Dividend on 215 shares at 28¢ per share:	$	60.20
2014-10-01	Dividend on 215 shares at 28¢ per share:	$	60.20
2015-01-02	Dividend on 215 shares at 28¢ per share:	$	60.20
2015-04-01	Dividend on 215 shares at 28¢ per share:	$	60.20
2015-07-01	Dividend on 215 shares at 28¢ per share:	$	60.20
2015-10-01	Dividend on 215 shares at 28¢ per share:	$	60.20
2016-01-04	Dividend on 215 shares at 28¢ per share:	$	60.20
2016-04-01	Dividend on 215 shares at 28¢ per share:	$	60.20
2016-07-01	Dividend on 215 shares at 28¢ per share:	$	60.20
2016-10-03	Dividend on 215 shares at 28¢ per share:	$	60.20
2016-12-23	Sold 215 shares of PNNT at $7.76 per share:	$	1,668.38
2017-01-03	Dividend on 215 shares at 28¢ per share:	$	60.20
	Capital loss:	$	829.99
	Dividends received:	$	842.80
	Commissions/fees/taxes:	$	3.00
	Net gain:	$	9.81

I made a net gain of 0.39% on the original amount invested, or 0.12% annualized.

Qualcomm Inc

I first bought shares of Qualcomm Inc(QCOM) in July 2015, noting that the company is shareholder friendly and had $31 billion in cash and marketable securities on hand at the end of 2014, with practically no debt! The company also licenses many of its 5,700+ patents and intellectual property to wireless equipment manufacturers.

I still like QCOM and have 200 shares in my Scottrade account. Those shares have an average cost basis of $67.92 and an average YoC of 3.12%.

On 23 December, I sold 100 shares that were in my FolioInvesting account for $66.61 per share. As a result of this sell, DivGro's PADI decreases by $212.

Here is a chart showing my entry prices and exit price:

Notice that I bought the majority of these shares in November 2015 near the 52-week low, so my investment has paid off handsomely!

Trading Summary

2015-07-16	Bought 10 shares of QCOM at $64.43 per share:	$	644.30
2015-09-23	Dividend on 10 shares at 48¢ per share:	$	4.80
2015-11-24	Bought 90 shares of QCOM at $49.32 per share:	$	4,438.80
2015-12-18	Dividend on 100 shares at 48¢ per share:	$	48.00
2016-03-23	Dividend on 100 shares at 53¢ per share:	$	48.00
2016-06-22	Dividend on 100 shares at 53¢ per share:	$	53.00
2016-09-21	Dividend on 100 shares at 53¢ per share:	$	53.00
2016-12-16	Dividend on 100 shares at 28¢ per share:	$	53.00
2016-12-23	Sold 100 shares of QCOM at $66.61 per share:	$	6,661.00
	Capital gain:	$	1,577.90
	Dividends received:	$	259.80
	Commissions/fees/taxes:	$	0.14
	Net gain:	$	1,837.56

I made a net gain of 36.15% on the original amount invested, or 32.08% annualized.

Gap Inc

I first bought shares of Gap Inc (GPS) in March 2015, noting that I liked the stock's longterm prospects. The company is committed to returning excess cash to shareholders. It boasts a strong balance sheet and has a good track record of maintaining disciplined capital management strategies.

Unfortunately, GPS took a nosedive shortly after I bought my shares, from which it is yet to recover. After somewhat stabilizing in 2016, I bought more shares and significantly reduced my cost basis. However, GPS has continued to struggle and I decided to close out the position and write off the loss against this year's capital gains.

So, on 23 December I sold all 165 shares of GPS at $22.68 per share, which results in a reduction of DivGro's PADI by $151.80.

Below is a chart showing my buy and sell prices:

Trading Summary

2015-03-16	Bought 60 shares of GPS at $41.42 per share:	$	2,485.20
2015-04-29	Dividend on 60 shares at 23¢ per share:	$	13.80
2015-07-29	Dividend on 60 shares at 23¢ per share:	$	13.80
2015-10-28	Dividend on 60 shares at 23¢ per share:	$	13.80
2016-01-27	Dividend on 60 shares at 23¢ per share:	$	13.80
2016-04-25	Bought 105 shares of GPS at $23.40 per share:	$	2,456.48
2016-04-27	Dividend on 60 shares at 23¢ per share:	$	13.80
2016-07-27	Dividend on 165 shares at 23¢ per share:	$	37.95
2016-10-26	Dividend on 165 shares at 23¢ per share:	$	37.95
2016-12-23	Sold 165 shares of GPS at $22.68 per share:	$	3,742.20
	Capital loss:	$	1,199.48
	Dividends received:	$	144.90
	Commissions/fees/taxes:	$	0.59
	Net loss:	$	1.055.17

I made a net loss of -21.34% on the original amount invested, or -17.53% annualized.

Conclusion

These four transactions collectively reduced DivGro's projected annual dividend income by $646.72. Fortunately, my recent buys more than compensated and I ended the year with projected annual dividend income at $12,376, well above my 2016 goal of $12,000!

As this is my last post of 2016, I want to wish my readers a happy and prosperous new year! Thanks so much for your encouragement and support!

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think of this options trade in the comments below.