Why is the Seek (ASX:SEK) share price sliding today?

Seek shares are falling today… but for a good reason.

Sebastian Bowen

Author Bio Sebastian Bowen has been a Motley Fool contributor since late 2018. Sebastian found his passion for writing and educating others about shares and all things finance after completing his studies in political, economic and social science and enjoys bringing this passion to life at the Fool. His investment philosophy is a simple one – buying high-quality companies at prices that make sense. When he’s not researching his next investment at all hours of the morning, Sebastian enjoys classic movies and likes to unwind with a good book, newspaper or record. Areas of Expertise Dividend investing ETFs Education Bachelor of Political, Economic, and Social Sciences (Government and International Relations), University of Sydney Social Media X/Twitter Favorite Investment Quote "In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine." – Benjamin Graham

Published March 23, 2022 2:56 pm AEDT

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is basking in some robust gains as it currently stands this Wednesday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is up by a healthy 0.45% at just under 7,380 points. The best performing sector is currently tech shares. So it might come as a surprise to see that the Seek Limited (ASX: SEK) share price is in the red today.

Yes, Seek shares are currently being priced at $30.39. That's down by a hefty 1.56%. So why such a marked underperformance from one of the older tech shares on the ASX 200?

Well, today's drop is likely stemming from one of the better reasons to have a share fall in value. Today is the day that Seek has traded ex-dividend for its upcoming shareholder dividend payment. Back when Seek delivered its half-year earnings report in February, it declared an interim dividend of 23 cents per share, fully franked. That was a healthy increase on last year's 20 cents per share final dividend.

So the reason why there is some selling pressure on Seek shares today is because today is the company's ex-dividend date. When a company trades ex-dividend for an upcoming payment, it means that new investors are cut off from receiving this divided. As such, the value of the dividend is no longer available, and thus leaves the Seek share price.

Seek investors can look forward to receiving their interim dividend on 7 April.

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Seek share price snapshot

Despite today's share price falls, Seek shares remain up around 10% over the past month. However, this online classifieds company has been suffering in 2022 so far. It's still down just over 10.5% year to date. However, it remains up by 9.95% over the past 12 months, and up 94% over the past 5 years.

At the current Seek share price, this ASX 200 share has a market capitalisation of $10.93 billion, with a dividend yield of 1.42%.

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