International Business Machines Corporation ( NYSE:IBM ) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in four days. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company’s books as a shareholder in order to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is an important date to be aware of as any purchase of the stock made on or after this date might mean a late settlement that doesn’t show on the record date. Accordingly, International Business Machines investors that purchase the stock on or after the 9th of February will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 10th of March. The company’s next dividend payment will be US$1.65 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$6.60 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, International Business Machines has a trailing yield of approximately 4.8% on its current stock price of $136.94. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and […]