An investor places a market order to buy a stock on the holder-of- record date for the stock's next dividend. Is the investor entitled to receive this dividend?

To receive the next dividend, an investor must buy a stock before its ex-dividend date, which is one or two business days before the holder-of-record date. This one- or two-day period allows orders executed before the ex-dividend date to be settled by the holder-of-record date. The buyer would be entitled to the dividend if the order was executed after the declaration date but before the ex-dividend date.