The Ring of Fire includes more than 450 volcanoes. It stretches for nearly 25,000 miles, running in the shape of a horseshoe (as opposed to an actual ring) from the southern tip of South America, along the west coast of North America, across the Bering Strait, down through Japan, and into New Zealand.
Well, when IBM raised its dividend to $1.10 from $0.95 a year ago, that was a dividend hike of almost 16%. When the dividend went to $0.95 from $0.85 in 2013, that was a hike of almost 12%. And in 2012, the dividend hike to $0.85 from $0.75 was a payout raise of 13%.
The dividend is payable March 7 to shareholders of record Feb. 21. Microsoft will review the dividend program regularly, but hopes to make it an annual payout, Connors said. After the stock split, Microsoft will have 10.8 billion shares outstanding, for a total dividend payout of about $864 million.