Payment date
Definition · Level 0 · Market basics
Keep reading with Tradecraft
Without an account, you can read three definitions every 30 days. Tradecraft explains all 738 terms and strategies, with the lessons that teach them, flashcards that come back before you forget, quizzes and a payoff lab.
The day the declared dividend cash actually lands in eligible holders’ accounts, usually a few days to a few weeks after the record date.
Example
Ex/record Wednesday, cash two Fridays later, even if you sold in between.
Where Tradecraft teaches it
Level 0 · Market basics, in the lesson “Shares, dividends & splits”: Share counts, market cap tiers, the dividend calendar, splits and buybacks.
Related terms
- Blue chipA large, long-established, financially solid company with a record of steady earnings and often dividends: a household name investors treat as a…
- BuybackA company purchasing its own shares, cutting shares outstanding: a way to return cash without paying a dividend.
- DividendCash (occasionally extra shares) a company pays its owners out of profits, declared by the board per share: usually quarterly in the US, yearly or…
- Dividend yieldAnnual dividends per share ÷ share price, as a percentage; annualize a quarterly payout first (× 4).
- Ex-dividend dateFirst day a stock trades without the upcoming payout: buyers from then on don’t get it, so the stock typically opens lower by about that amount.
- FloatShares actually available for public trading: shares outstanding minus insider, strategic and locked-up holdings.