Software Giant Oks Stock Split

Microsoft Corp.’s board of directors has approved a 2-for-1 stock split, doubling the number of common shares to about 2.4 billion.

The new shares will be issued Feb. 20 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 6, the company said.

This is the seventh time the common stock has split since the company went public on March 13, 1986. An investor who bought 100 shares at that time and held the stock would have 7,200 shares after the Feb. 20 split.