EUA chegam a acordo com a UE para tarifas de 15%

[Ertai]

BuyBack deste tamanho e dividendos aumentados... caso para dar os parabéns ao Billy, os accionistas vão estar certamente muito contentes

Microsoft's $75 billion cash reward

Software giant sets $30B buyback and $3 a share special payout, doubles dividend; stock soars.July 20, 2004: 10:30 PM EDT
By Paul R. La Monica, CNN/Money senior writer

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday it would double its cash dividend and that its board approved a plan to buy back up to $30 billion of the company's stock over the next four years.

The world's largest software maker also announced plans for a special one-time payout of $3 a share. All told, Microsoft said it would be returning $75 billion in cash to shareholders over the next four years.

As a result of the increase in the regular dividend, from an annual payment of 16 cents a share to four quarterly payments of 8 cents a share, Microsoft's stock will yield about 1.1 percent.

The Redmond, Wash.-based company began paying a dividend in March, 2003 and this marks the second time that the company has doubled it. But even with the latest increase, Microsoft's yield will be below the 1.7 percent average yield for the S&P 500.

The dividend increase is scheduled to take effect on September 14.

Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) stock jumped more than 5 percent in after-hours trading after rising more than 1 percent during the regular session. Investors typically applaud companies for buying back stock since repurchases reduce the number of shares outstanding, thereby boosting earnings per share.

Jeff Van Harte, manager of the Transamerica Premier Equity fund, which owns Microsoft, said that the buyback should probably boost estimated earnings growth by a couple of percentage points.