Apple has bucket loads of cash on hand, and Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty thinks the Mac and iPhone maker will use its bankroll to either for a stock buyback or to pay shareholders a dividend.
With more than US$76 billion in the bank, Ms. Huberty sees a $25 billion stock buyback, or a 2.4 percent dividend, as a reasonable option for the company. “We believe Apple is more likely than ever to return cash to shareholders,” she said, according to Bloomberg.
Apple hasn’t indicated that it plans to buy back any of its stock or pay out a dividend to shareholders. Instead, the executive team has said in previous months that it will use the money for “strategic opportunities.”
When he was still CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs pointed out that the company is disciplined when it comes to spending money, too.
Aside from some analysts thinking Apple should pay out a dividend, there isn’t any indication from the company that such a plan is in the works.
Apple is currently trading at $382.23, up 2.29 (0.60%).