The IBM board of directors today declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 55 cents per common share, payable on Dec. 10 to stockholders of record Nov. 10.

With the payment of the Dec. 10 dividend, IBM will have paid consecutive quarterly dividends every year since 1916.

The Board today also authorized $5 billion in additional funds for use in the company’s stock repurchase program. IBM said it will repurchase shares on the open market or in private transactions from time to time, depending on market conditions.

This amount is in addition to approximately $4.2 billion remaining at the end of September 2009 from a prior authorization. With this new authorization, IBM will have approximately $9.2 billion for its stock repurchase program. IBM expects to request additional share repurchase authorization at the April 2010 board meeting.

Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer said “IBM’s strategic transformation to higher value businesses continues to drive profitable growth, and our strong cash flow performance has enabled IBM to return $73 billion since 2003 to our shareholders.”