Microsoft announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, reflecting a 25% increase over the previous quarter’s dividend, according to Microsoft News Center.

The dividend is payable December 8, 2011 to shareholders of record on November 17, 2011. The ex-dividend date will be November 15, 2011.

“Our strong financial results enable us to increase our dividend as part of our ongoing commitment to return capital to our shareholders,” said Peter Klein, chief financial officer of Microsoft.

The company is continuing its $40 billion share repurchase program approved by the board of directors in September 2008. The repurchase program, which expires on September 30, 2013, had approximately $12.2 billion remaining as of June 30, 2011.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions