Recently, investors have likely appreciated their dividend stocks more than usual. With the S&P 500 down more than 11% over the past year, many investors' portfolios have taken a hit. While it's never enjoyable to watch the prices of your stocks decline, there's one thing that probably didn't take a hit in investors' portfolios during this period: their income from high-quality dividend stocks. Not only do most top dividend-paying companies continue paying dividends through tough times, but many of them reward shareholders with increases to their payouts every year -- rain or shine.

Two tech stocks that have raised their dividend over the last year are Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). For investors who are looking to add income to their portfolios, both of these stocks are great ideas for consideration. But which tech giant looks like a better investment today? Let's take a look at both to find out.

Software company Microsoft, announced its most recent dividend increase last September. Microsoft's board of directors approved a quarterly dividend of $0.68, 10% higher than its previous payout. On an annual basis, this quarterly dividend amounts to $2.72, giving Microsoft a dividend yield of about 1% based on the stock's price at the time of this writing.

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Source Fool.com