Since it is paying large dividends I really don't want to sell any of this stock so I am thinking of stopping the auto div. reinvest and reallocating the dividends to other positions.
This sentence contradicts itself, and tells me you don't really understand what dividends are. Which, as a "dividend investor" kind of makes you like a fireman who doesn't understand what fire is.
Dividend payment: reduces your stake in the company and gives you cash in exchange.
Selling shares: reduces your stake in the company and gives you cash in exchange.
Wanting the first but not wanting the second is a clear contradiction.
Essentially a regular dividend schedule is just the company deciding on your behalf to reduce your stake in that company at a regular rate.
- If you feel that rate of divestment is too slow, then you should sell additional shares in order to reach the divestment rate you prefer.
- If you feel that rate of divestment is too fast, then you should reinvest some or all of the dividend payment back into the company.
- If you feel the rate of divestment is just right, that's either a freakish coincidence, or you're just lazily abdicating your investment decisions to the company in question, which would be a strange thing to do since they don't know anything about your portfolio or goals.
The point is that "selling stock" shouldn't feel any different to you than "reallocating the dividends to other positions"; they are just different stages along a continuous spectrum of divestment levels.
Also, if you've been auto-reinvesting dividends thus far, then that means you didn't really want dividend payments in the first place.