Microsoft Raises Dividend, Names Hugh Johnston to Board
September 19 2017 - 8:12PM
Dow Jones News
By Imani Moise
Microsoft Corp. raised its dividend by 7.6% Tuesday, and named
30-year PepsiCo Inc. veteran Hugh Johnston to its board.
Board member G. Mason Morfit of ValueAct Capital won't seek
reelection after his term expires in November.
Mr. Johnston, who has served as chief financial officer of the
beverage company since 2010, will step down from Twitter Inc.'s
board Oct. 1. Former Google Inc. finance chief Patrick Pichette
will join Twitter's board on Dec. 1.
Microsoft tends to announce dividend increases in September. The
7.6% hike is the smallest increase by percentage in recent
years.
Last year the dividend got an 8% boost, and in 2015 the company
raised its quarterly payout by 16% after an 11% increase in
2014.
This year's increase, to 42 cents from 39 cents, raises
Microsoft's dividend yield to 2.2% from 2.1%. The dividend is
payable Dec. 14 to shareholders of record Nov. 16.
Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., enjoyed torrid revenue
growth in the 1990s fueled by the spread of personal computers.
After its growth slowed, the company began offering increasingly
generous dividends.
The software giant has expanded its business selling web-based
services to corporate customers, and has solidified its spot as the
No. 2 provider of on-demand computing processing and storage behind
Amazon.com Inc.
In its fiscal fourth quarter, Microsoft notched gains in its
Azure cloud-computing business and Office 365, the online version
of its widely used productivity software.
The company's shares have risen 21% so far this year to
$75.44.
Write to Imani Moise at imani.moise@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 19, 2017 19:57 ET (23:57 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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