These three all report tonight and all three are getting whacked. As much as I hate to bottom pick, I wonder if this is overdone. Unless earning really suck, they ought to be in for a rebound. While I'm at it, QLGC should go along for the ride, as it's getting clocked after an OK report. Or maybe it all just goes down the drain tomorrow.
Microsoft declares dividend and a stock split (2-1) Lets party like its 1999!! Microsoft to pay a dividend (MSFT) Microsoft (MSFT) announced a two-for-one stock split of its common shares, and said it will pay a dividend for the first time in the company's history. The company has been under pressure by shareholders to part with some of its nearly $40 billion cash horde. The annual dividend of 16 cents a share pre-split is payable March 7 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Feb. 21. As a result of the stock split, shareholders will receive one additional common share for every share held on the record date of Jan. 27.
Looks like I was dead wrong. What's the point of splitting a 50 dollar stock anyway? Just makes options strategies less attractive.
msft is very shrewd, Splits and new dividends attract attention. It is just a trick however, that dividend is very small.
From CBS Market Watch: The dividend will cost the company about $856 million - less than the $1.1 billion the company offered to settle a collection of shareholder lawsuits in California. Poore says the amount is "paltry", and that the company is "throwing a bone" to shareholders. MSFT did cut the forecasts for 2003. And this is bad.