This week's list looks at the 20 stocks followed most closely by Argus clients in 2025. It contains well-known names and, not surprisingly, includes many technology or "technology related" names. One might have easily guessed that Nvidia is in the top spot, but might be surprised to see only three Healthcare companies, only one big box retailer, no big banks, and no Walmart. The list also includes the current Argus rating on each stock, the sector for each stock, and each stock's performance from 2025.

The Vickers Top Buyers & Sellers is a daily report that identifies the five companies the largest insider purchase transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions as well as the five companies the largest insider sales transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions.

Dividend income is often overlooked amid gyrations in the stock market. Consider that in 2024, market bulls were boasting about 24%-plus S&P 500 returns. No one was very focused on the broad market index's 1.2% dividend yield. But dividends are an important element of return, and 2025, for a while, was bearing that out. Through May, the S&P 500 was up a thin 1.1%; without dividends, there was essentially no return at all. Indeed, dividend income accounted for 42% of the total return of the S&P 500 between 1930 and 2012, according to Hartford Funds. And that's just the average. In some of those decades, dividends accounted for more than 50% of total returns and even 100%. More recently, dividends have accounted for a smaller portion of returns, at around 15%-20%. Not for nothing, in 2022, dividend payments softened the blow when most market indices turned bearish as the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates. We saw that pattern in 2018 as well. Not all dividends are equal, though, and it is important to understand the difference between the two main investment categories: high-yield stocks and dividend-growth stocks. High-yield stocks typically have dividends that pay out in the 5%-8% range. Though the income appears attractive, the share prices of high-yield stocks may be at risk. Indeed, if interest rates drift higher, risk-averse equity investors could be drawn to the relative safety of bonds and may sell their high-yield stocks. In addition, it is worth noting that a yield in the 7%-10% range could signal a company is struggling and the dividend is in jeopardy. Former blue-chip companies such as 3M, General Electric, Boeing, and Kraft Heinz all cut their high dividends in the past few years. Lastly, high dividend payouts likely constitute a sizable percentage of the cash a company earns, leaving little behind for management to deploy into value-enhancing activities. Dividend-growth stocks typically have lower yields, often in the 1.0%-2.5% range. But the lower-yielding dividends are not likely to be a huge component of cash flow, opening up other value-additive options for deploying to cash management teams -- such as share buybacks, M&A, the repayment of debt, or reinvestment in the core business. Further, while the yields are not as high, management teams may be more likely to boost the payouts over time, as earnings grow. Here is a list of the Argus BUY-rated stocks that are new in our recently updated Dividend Growth Model Portfolio.

The Vickers Top Buyers & Sellers is a daily report that identifies the five companies the largest insider purchase transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions as well as the five companies the largest insider sales transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions.