Apple Inc (AAPL)

[Investors3]

Apple expected to boost its dividend and stock buybacks once again
Monday, April 3, 2023 2:07 pm

When Apple reports earnings late this month, the company is widely expected to increase its dividend and boost stock buybacks once again.

Eric J. Savitz for Barron’s:

Over each of the last 10 years, in fact, Apple has used the announcement of March-quarter earnings to provide the market with an update on its capital-return policy.

Apple has been aggressively returning cash to holders for years now, mostly in the form of stock repurchases, but also with gradually increasing dividends.

Apple currently pays a quarterly dividend of 23 cents a share, for a yield of 0.6%. The company raised the rate last year by a penny, or a little under 5%. The year before that, the increase was 7%. It would seem logical to think Apple will raise the rate this year once again by a penny, which would be 4%, to 24 cents quarterly—although a 2-cent increase, or a little under 9%—would bring the annualized rate to a nice round dollar.

Last year, Apple’s board approved a $90 billion buyback authorization, matching the one from the year before. Over the last five years combined, the company has announced $405 billion in stock buybacks. Since the end of fiscal 2017, the company on a split-adjusted basis has repurchased 4.7 billion shares, reducing share count by 23%.

MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s best use for its copious amounts of excess cash is to return it to its shareholders via buybacks and dividends.

https://macdailynews.com/2023/04/03/apple-expected-to-boost-its-dividend-and-stock-buybacks-once-again/