Microsoft (MSFT.US) announced a 10% increase in its dividend and plans to buy back up to $60 billion in stock.

Microsoft (MSFT.US) announced a new $60 billion stock buyback plan, the size of which is comparable to its largest buyback authorization ever, and raised its quarterly dividend by 10%. The software company said it would raise its quarterly dividend to 83 cents per share from 75 cents per share for shareholders as of November 21. The dividend will be paid to shareholders of record as of November 21, 2024 on December 12, 2024. The ex-dividend date will be November 21, 2024. The board also authorized a stock buyback of up to $60 billion, which has no expiration date.

Over the past few years, Microsoft, the world's second-largest company by market value, has benefited from the market's enthusiasm for artificial intelligence. The software maker has infused the artificial intelligence technology of its partner OpenAI into its product line and said the tools can enhance its business applications such as Teams, Word and Outlook. Microsoft unveiled a series of new artificial intelligence tools earlier on Monday.

According to data, Microsoft had $75.5 billion in cash and equivalents as of June 30. The company said in July that its free cash flow in the fourth fiscal quarter was $23.3 billion, "up 18% year-on-year, reflecting increased capital expenditures to support our cloud and artificial intelligence products."