Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, September 20, 2019

Article Excerpt

MICROSOFT CORP., $139.44, Nasdaq symbol MSFT, is the world’s largest software company. Its Windows operating system powers about 85% of the world’s personal computers. Microsoft will raise its quarterly dividend by 10.9% with the December 2019 payment, to $0.51 a share from $0.46. The new annual rate of $2.04 yields 1.5%. The company has paid regular dividends since 2004 and has increased the annual rate each year since 2010. As well, Microsoft announced a new $40 billion share repurchase plan. That represents about 4% of its $1.08 trillion market cap (the total value of all outstanding shares). There are no time limits for those purchases. Share buybacks raise earnings per share and other per-share calculations. That gives Microsoft’s remaining investors a larger stake in the company. OUR RECOMMENDATION: Microsoft is a buy. Microsoft recent coverage: July 2019 issue April 2019 issue FEDEX CORP., $148.84, New York symbol FDX, delivers packages in the U.S. and 220 other countries. The stock fell 14% this week after the company reported lower-than-expected…