Microsoft had good news for investors as the software giant announced plans for an increased shareholder payout as well as a new share buyback program.
It said late Monday that it is increasing its quarterly dividend by 10% compared with last quarter, to 83 cents a share.
The dividend is payable on Dec. 12 to shareholders of record on Nov. 21.
The board of directors at the software giant also approved a new share repurchase program of up to $60 billion. The program has no expiration date and can be terminated at any time. Share buybacks are seen as good for shareholders as the amount of outstanding shares decreases, which tends to increase the nominal value per share.
Microsoft reported fourth-quarter results on July 30 that largely matched analysts’ estimates. Shares, however, fell immediately after the release, reflecting the market’s high expectation of the legacy software company.
The stock was up 1.3% to $436.97 in Tuesday premarket trading while futures tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq were up 0.4%. So far this year, the stock is up 14.7%, trailing the Nasdaq Composite index which is up 28.3%