India, Oct. 4 -- Microsoft shares were trading near $518. This is less than 5% below its record closing price of $542, which it reached in October last year.

Microsoft has split its stock nine times in the past. The company first went public in March 1986. Since then, it has split its shares nine times during its first 17 years as a publicly traded company, according to The Motley Fool.

One original Microsoft share has grown into 288 shares. An investor who bought one share during Microsoft's initial public offering (IPO) in March 1986 would now own 288 shares because of the company's past stock splits.

Microsoft's last stock split happened in 2003. The company carried out its ninth split in February 2003. It was a 2-for-1 split, which...