Apple to pay dividend, start stock buybacks
People gather outside an Apple retail store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan as they wait for the 8 a.m. local time release of the new iPad tablet. (March 16, 2012) Credit: AP
Apple is finally putting its pile of cash to work, introducing a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share and starting a $10 billion share buyback program.
Apple says the dividend will start in its fiscal fourth quarter, which begins July 1. The buybacks will begin in its next fiscal year, which starts Sept. 30.
Apple is sitting on $97.6 billion in cash and securities. For years, it has resisted calls to reward shareholders with some of that money. Since the death of chief executive Steve Jobs, management has signaled that it's been considering options for the money.
The expectation of a dividend has already helped send the stock up 37 percent since Apple's latest earnings report. In pre-market trading, the shares touched a record level of $600.23, up 2.5 percent from Friday's close.
'His sacrifice made a difference': Gold Star mother honors son's memory Army Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, 22, of Bay Shore, was the first serviceman from Long Island killed in the Iraq War.
'His sacrifice made a difference': Gold Star mother honors son's memory Army Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, 22, of Bay Shore, was the first serviceman from Long Island killed in the Iraq War.
