Apple Dividend May Return Part of $98B in Cash

[haikuman]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-29...-cash.html

Apple Inc. (AAPL), which today topped a $500 billion market capitalization, will probably start paying a dividend this year, attempting to appease investors who have said the electronics maker is hoarding too much cash.

The company is likely to declare a quarterly dividend of about $2 a share before the year is out, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The projections are based in part on the dividends paid by other large technology providers, including Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and International Business Machines Corp.

[RAMd®d]

I wouldn't hold my breath for a dividend.

I like what they do with their money as is- save it and when it's time, buy tech for use later.

Be it a company or product, nothing like buy it with cash.

Cook says he's not married to hoarding money for the sake of hoarding (or something to that effect) but not paying dividends is an Apple strategy/tradition that I'd like to see live on for a good deal (npi) longer.

[tenders]

Does Cook really want to argue with shareholders about Jobs' cash fetish? It is quite clear that all that cash is holding back the stock's P/E multiple, and he's said they have no plans for it. It belongs to the shareholders - distributions of profits like that are what shareholders buy stock for in the first place. The cash cow that is Apple needs to be milked.

[IronMac]

$2 a share per quarter? With something that low (percentage wise) it's not even worth doing the paperwork for.

I'm thinking that it's going to be share buybacks then...

[(vikm)]

As a shareholder, we can all shut up about it. Apple can do whatever they want with that money. They earned it, not me. I don't question them on it at all. I trust they know what they are doing with it far better than what I could tell them to do.

[Article Accelerator]

tenders wrote: ...distributions of profits like that are what shareholders buy stock for in the first place.

Or growth. Apple (and AAPL) has delivered that--big time.

[haikuman]

(vikm) wrote:
As a shareholder, we can all shut up about it. Apple can do whatever they want with that money. They earned it, not me. I don't question them on it at all. I trust they know what they are doing with it far better than what I could tell them to do.

Thats an amusing point of view. I am not sure that anyone needs to shut up. Perhaps because of Apples Market status, Brand and recognizability it is a very highly discussed company.

Pundits will write and spin there drivel and opinions. Perhaps all we need to do is filter and distill it all.
ymmv :priate:

Example:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-your-money-17215326

[Lux Interior]

IronMac wrote:
$2 a share per quarter? With something that low (percentage wise) it's not even worth doing the paperwork for.

That it's low (percentage -wise) is just another indication that they have too much cash. $2/share/qtr is $8 Billion a year. Sounds worth a little paperwork to me!

And no one is saying that they need to give ALL the cash back. We just want a taste!

I'd like to see a 10-1 split. I don't like this Buffett mentality on splits.

[IronMac]

(vikm) wrote:
As a shareholder, we can all shut up about it. Apple can do whatever they want with that money. They earned it, not me. I don't question them on it at all. I trust they know what they are doing with it far better than what I could tell them to do.

I don't think you realize how this all works. In the most basic sense, as a shareholder, we own part of Apple. Apple CANNOT do whatever it wants with the money. That money belongs to the stockholders. If no one invested in the company in the first place they would not have been able to earn anything.

[IronMac]

Lux Interior wrote:
[quote=IronMac]
$2 a share per quarter? With something that low (percentage wise) it's not even worth doing the paperwork for.

That it's low (percentage -wise) is just another indication that they have too much cash. $2/share/qtr is $8 Billion a year. Sounds worth a little paperwork to me!

And no one is saying that they need to give ALL the cash back. We just want a taste!

I'd like to see a 10-1 split. I don't like this Buffett mentality on splits.
No, it means that the assumed forthcoming dividend is too low. Dividend paying companies dole out as a percentage of their share price probably around 2% and up. Some companies such as Windstream go as high as 8%.

But, if at $2 a share a quarter is $8 billion then a share buyback is more likely...