ASX dividend shares are a great way for Australian investors to earn a consistent passive income.

Passive income can also give investors a buffer against share market volatility. This is particularly valuable when share markets swing between peaks and troughs.

The catch is that it can be difficult to spot the ASX shares that are most reliable and can give you the passive income you’re targeting.

Let’s break it down, using $10,000 per year in passive income as an example.

What portfolio size do I need to get $10,000 in annual passive income from ASX shares?

The easy way to work out the amount of money you’d need is to divide your annual $10,000 passive income by the dividend yield of your overall portfolio.

The tricky part is that the answer varies widely depending on the dividend yield of the ASX shares you’d have in your portfolio. 

For example, a portfolio with a dividend yield of around 6% only needs to be half the size of one with a dividend yield of around 3% to generate the same level of dividend income. 

So, to receive $10,000 per year in passive income from ASX shares with a 3% dividend yield, you’d need a portfolio of around $333,000.

Then, as your dividend yield increases, the portfolio size needed to earn the same level of passive income goes down.

That means that if your portfolio has an overall dividend yield of around 4%, you’d need to invest closer to $250,000 to receive your $5,000 per year in passive income.

To get the same passive income from a 5% dividend yield, you’d need to invest $200,000.

You’d then need closer to $166,000 to earn the same income off shares with an overall 6% dividend yield.

Raise that portfolio yield to 7% or even 8%, and you would need to be closer to $143,000 or $125,000, respectively.

And so on.

These figures are based on cash dividends before any tax or franking credit benefits.

What ASX shares can I invest in to get my $10,000 annual passive income?

There is a huge range of ASX dividend shares available to buy, and their yields vary significantly. 

But here are a few of my favourites to get you started.

Lower yielding ASX dividend-paying shares such as Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) are solid and reliable shares that offer a yield of around 2% to 3%.

For a mid-range yielding ASX dividend option, I’d look at defensive assets like Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS), and blue-chip majors like BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), which pay a dividend of around 3% to 4%.

For a higher 5% to 6% dividend yield, I’d look at dividend-payers like National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), retail giant Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (ASX: HVN), or a REIT like Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT (ASX: CQE).

Packaging giant Amcor (ASX: AMC) yields closer to 7%, as does Bank of Queensland Ltd (ASX: BOQ).

If you want to take on more risk and go for a much higher-yielding ASX stock, my picks would be Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC) or BetaShares Australian Top 20 Equities Yield Maximiser Complex ETF (ASX: YMAX). These typically yield 9% or more.

But keep in mind that ASX shares carry market risk. So, diversifying across established, cash-flow-heavy dividend-payers and income ETFs is the most reliable strategy.

What does a diversified portfolio look like?

Say you have $200,000 to invest; to earn $10,000 per year in passive income, you’d need a portfolio yield of around 5%. 

But remember, you don’t need to invest the whole $200,000 at once, and the dividend is the overall portfolio dividend, not exclusively ASX shares with individual dividend yields at 5%. 

For example, you could split your portfolio up so that around 65% is invested into mid-range yielding ASX shares, another 20% is invested into slightly higher yielding stocks, and the remaining 15% could be invested into riskier but much higher yielding shares.

I’d also look to buy the ASX shares across multiple sectors to diversify my portfolio even further.

It’s important to note that while a 5% yield from a diversified portfolio is a reasonable long-term target, it won’t be achieved every year. Your passive income will likely fluctuate, depending on the company’s profits and dividend decisions.

The post These ASX shares could generate $10,000 per year in passive income appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Amcor Plc, Harvey Norman, and Telstra Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BHP Group, Nine Entertainment, and Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The team at Bell Potter have provided fresh analysis on ASX healthcare stock Cogstate Ltd (ASX: CGS). 

The company is a healthcare service provider focused on optimising brain health assessments, predominantly for clinical trials of novel medicines. 

It has been a shining light in 2026 amongst a weaker ASX healthcare sector. 

Cogstate shares have risen 17% year to date while the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) has fallen almost 20%. 

Bell Potter appears optimistic the growth can continue in the next 12 months. 

Here is what the broker had to say. 

Strong performance continues

According to the broker, the company had another strong quarter.

The company reported new contract sales of US$21.9 million. 

This is the fourth quarter in a row with more than US$20 million in sales. Total contract sales for the year reached US$89 million, which is a record for its Clinical Trials business.

Additionally, the company’s revenue backlog (work already contracted but not yet recognised as revenue) grew to US$118.5 million, up 32% from a year ago.

This is important because the business now has more future work secured than ever before.

This was a comfortable beat to our prior expectations and is a 54% increase compared to where FY26 contracted revenue started.

Forecasts lifted

The broker also noted the US$21.9 million in new contracts signed in the latest quarter, US$12.7 million will be recognised as revenue in FY27.

This increases the amount of revenue already locked in for FY27 to US$48.3 million, up from US$35.6 million three months earlier.

Bell Potter says this result was better than expected and means FY27 starts with 54% more contracted revenue than FY26 did.

Because of this stronger starting position, Bell Potter has raised its FY27 revenue forecast by 11% and also increased its FY28 forecast.

Bell Potter now expects EBITDA in FY27 and FY28 to be 19-23% higher than previously forecast, with profit margins improving to the mid-30% range.

Increased upside for ASX healthcare stock

Based on this guidance, Bell Potter has increased its price target on Cogstate shares to $3.70 (previously $3.20). 

The broker has retained its buy recommendation. 

Based on yesterday’s closing price, this indicates 37% upside potential for this ASX healthcare stock. 

We were surprised with the soft share price response today following what we considered to be another strong quarterly update with little to scrutinise.

The discount is despite Cogstate’s far higher growth rate than peers, now forecast at ~18% annualised over the next 2 years compared to peers ranging from -1% to 8%, i.e. Cogstate has more than double the growth outlook of the next best CRO peer, not to mention a higher NPAT margin (BPe 24%) and no debt.

The post Top broker tips 37% upside for this exciting ASX healthcare stock appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Bell has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Cogstate. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Cogstate. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

On Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was out of form and ended the day in the red. The benchmark index fell 0.2% to 8,785.1 points.

Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to fall again

It looks set to be a difficult session for Australian investors on Thursday after a poor night on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 47 points or 0.55% lower this morning. In late trade in the United States, the Dow Jones is down 1.1%, the S&P 500 is 0.35% lower, and the Nasdaq is down slightly.

Buy Minerals 260 shares

Minerals 260 Ltd (ASX: MI6) shares could have major upside according to analysts at Bell Potter. This morning, the broker has retained its speculative buy rating on the ASX gold stock with an improved price target of $1.40. This implies potential upside of approximately 120%. It said: “MI6 offers gold exposure via the 6.2Moz Bullabulling MRE, valuation uplift through discovery success, project advancement and de-risking as the BGP progresses towards production. MI6 holds ~$250m cash, sufficient to fund to Final Investment Decision (FID) in early CY27, long-lead items and early site works. We lift our valuation to $1.40/sh and retain our Speculative Buy recommendation.”

Oil prices jump

ASX 200 energy shares such as Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) could have a great day after oil prices jumped overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 4.4% to US$73.57 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 5.2% to US$78.04 a barrel. Traders were bidding oil higher following an escalation in US-Iran tensions.

Uranium miners on watch

Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) and other ASX uranium shares will be on watch today. There are reports that the Australian government could sign an agreement with India this week that delivers on a nuclear co-operation plan between the two countries that was signed over a decade ago. Boss Energy shares certainly need a boost. They are down 22% year to date.

Gold price tumbles

It could be a poor session for ASX 200 gold shares including Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) on Thursday after the gold price tumbled overnight. According to CNBC, the gold futures price is down 1.5% to US$4,096.85 an ounce. Rising oil prices have sparked inflation and rate hike concerns.

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Woodside Energy Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.