Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shareholders are going to receive another quarterly dividend of $2.77 billion Thursday. The iPhone maker will distribute $3.05 per share to shareholders of record on August 12. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) currency has 908.44 million outstanding shares. However, Daniel Eran Dilger of Apple Insider points out that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will actually spend $110 million less compared to the previous quarter because it has repurchased 36 million shares during June quarter.
Last quarter, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) spent about $16 billion to buy back 36 million of its own shares with an average price of $444.44 per share. The company has earlier announced a $50 billion repurchase program. Of that, the company still has $44 billion to buy back shares by the end of 2015.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is sitting on a cash pile of about $150 billion. The Cupertino-based company announced its first quarterly dividend in March 2012, with an attractive $10 billion share repurchase program. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) had decided to pay $2.65 per share in dividend. But the company’s stock began to tumble from October 2012. So, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook boosted the dividend payout from $2.65 to $3.05 per share earlier this year to attract investors.
According to Dividend Daily, the dividend boost worked its magic. Retail investors expressed renewed interest in the company. And Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) soon became one of the most widely held stock by the brokerage firm TD AmeriTrade’s clients. Though Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a huge cash pile, it recently entered the debt market to raise cash to reward shareholders. That’s because Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) holds most of its cash overseas to avoid taxes. Despite that, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one of the largest corporate tax payers in the United States.
Recently, investor Carl Icahn disclosed a massive position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). He is planning to push the company for greater shareholder value through more stock buyback and increased dividend.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares were down 0.03% to $498.35 at 3:34 PM EDT.
