On March 11, 2019, Microsoft announced via a press release that shareholders will receive a $0.46 (USD) dividend per share. As noted in a report by The Enterprise Leader, Microsoft shareholders will receive the $0.46 per share dividend on June 13, 2019. The $0.46 dividend accounts for the $1.84 annual dividend Microsoft shareholders receive and represents a dividend yield of 1.63%
Over the last three years on average, Microsoft has increased its dividend by about 10.1% annually. Microsoft has seen dividend growth over the last 15 years and a payout ratio of 43.3%, meaning that Microsoft’s stock dividend is covered by its earnings. Analyst estimate that Microsoft will earn about $4.93 per share over the next year and continue to cover its $1.84 annual dividend with a future payout ratio of 37.3%.
Microsoft shares continue to hold steady with growth in its expanding Surface hardware product line, and SaaS products, including Office 365. Microsoft continues to expand its cloud services with Azure in an effort to compete with other competing services offered by Amazon and Google.
