If you want to get in on the “sweetheart” dividend Apple will be paying to “shareholders of record” the day before Valentine’s Day, you’ve got until the close of the market today to buy Apple stock.
Apple has been automatically paying its shareholders a dividend about a month and a half after the end of each fiscal quarter. At the current stock price of $514, the dividend yield is 2.37 percent.
The next dividend payout date falls on next Thursday, February 13th for the December quarter. This means the last chance to be a “shareholder of record” is before the market’s close today. If a share is sold after today, no dividend will be received by the purchaser until next quarter’s payout.
An accounting principle known as the “ex-dividend,” or reinvestment date, determines the party owed a dividend when shares exchange hands just before a dividend is paid out. A share transaction does not “settle” for three days.
AppleInsider does an excellent job of explaining ALL the details at the link above, and the article bears reading by interested parties. But don’t read too long, or you might miss your chance to buy some Apple stock before the end of business today.
