San Diego-based Qualcomm announced Monday a major increase in its stock buyback program and a 14 percent increase in its stock dividend.
Effective immediately, the company will begin a repurchase of up to $15 billion of its common stock. The $15 billion program replaces the previous program, which had a $2.1 billion authorization remaining.
Qualcomm said it intends to repurchase $10 billion of its common stock within approximately twelve months, in addition to its current commitment to return a minimum of 75% of its free cash flow to stockholders through stock repurchases and dividends.
The company’s board also approved a 14 percent increase in the quarterly cash dividend, raising the annualized dividend payout to$1.92 per share of common stock. The cash dividend will increase from 42 cents to 48 cents per share of common stock and will be effective for quarterly dividends payable after March 25.
“Our business continues to generate substantial operating cash flow, and today’s announcement represents an important step in returning that cash to our owners while still preserving the strategic flexibility needed to drive stockholder value through growth,” said Steve Mollenkopf, CEO. “I am pleased that we continue to build on our track record of returning capital to stockholders, having exceeded each of our capital return commitments in 2014 and returned approximately $37 billion to stockholders since these programs began in 2003.”
Qualcomm is a worldwide leader in wireless technology with more than 30,000 employees and a market value of approximately $120 billion.
