Glossary
Ex-dividend date
The first day a buyer of the stock doesn’t get the next dividend.
The ex-dividend date is the first trading day on which a buyer of the stock does not get the next dividend. Buy before it and the dividend is yours; buy on or after it and the seller keeps it.
The company sets the record date, the day you must be on its books as a shareholder. The exchange then sets the ex-dividend date from it. The SEC’s investor site says the ex-dividend date is usually the record date itself, or the business day before when the record date falls on a weekend or holiday.
The pay date, when the cash arrives, usually comes a few days to a few weeks after that. Our dividend calendar lists all three dates for covered companies that have declared a dividend.
Longer explainer: Dividends
Related terms: Dividend yield
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Disclosures
- Editor holdings
- The editor holds no position in any company named on this page. As of Nov 11, 2026.
- Compensation
- Nobody paid for this page. No affiliate links on this page.
- Sources
- The SEC filings linked next to each figure.
- Last updated
- Nov 11, 2026
General education, the same for every reader. Not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security, and it doesn’t consider your situation.