Shares of Apple, Inc. near ex-dividend as it gears up to distribute $2.9 billion to shareholders
On August 14, Apple will pay shareholders of record a quarterly dividend of $0.47 per share, but investors will need to have purchased the company's stock by the market's close next Monday, August 11 in order to qualify.
Apple has been automatically paying its shareholders a dividend about a month and a half after the end of each fiscal quarter ever since it declared its modern dividend plan in the summer of 2012.
The August dividend will be the first to occur since the company issued a 7-for-1 stock split. That split also converted the dividend from $3.29 per share to 47 cents per share. Following its stock split, Apple now has 5.989 billion shares outstanding.
Apple boosted its dividend payments in May, up from a previous $3.05. That was the second increase in two years. At the current stock price of $95.12 at its close today, Apple's dividend yield is 1.98 percent, a figure that has been dropping as the stock's price has appreciated.
Since the start of 2014, Apple shares are up 18.68 percent, compared to Microsoft's 15.16 percent gain or Google's 0.94 percent rise.
Over the past year, Apple has been paying out around $2.8 billion in dividends every quarter, a figure that had increased 15 percent over the $2.5 billion Apple had been paying in 2012, before it first increased its dividend payments last May. This quarter, Apple's dividend payments will amount to $2.9 billion.
Apple has spent $51 billion on stock buybacks since initiating its capital return program, including an opportunistic $14 billion share grab initiated after the stock plunged more than 8 percent in January following the company's holiday Q1 release which detailed its highest ever quarterly revenues and operating profits--results that the tech media depicted as "disappointing."
Apple subsequently issued a third $12 billion ASR and executed an additional $2 billion in open market purchases, then spent an additional $4 billion in open market purchases in the spring quarter, resulting in an $18 billion total buyback for fiscal Q2.
Apple has since continued its quarterly pace of buying back $5 billion in shares off the open market in the June quarter, and noted in SEC filings that it expects to continue, although it is not obligated to do so. Apple has another $39 billion set aside to buyback shares under its current capital return program, which is currently slated to continue through the end of calendar 2015.
Apple has been automatically paying its shareholders a dividend about a month and a half after the end of each fiscal quarter ever since it declared its modern dividend plan in the summer of 2012.
The August dividend will be the first to occur since the company issued a 7-for-1 stock split. That split also converted the dividend from $3.29 per share to 47 cents per share. Following its stock split, Apple now has 5.989 billion shares outstanding.
Apple boosted its dividend payments in May, up from a previous $3.05. That was the second increase in two years. At the current stock price of $95.12 at its close today, Apple's dividend yield is 1.98 percent, a figure that has been dropping as the stock's price has appreciated.
Since the start of 2014, Apple shares are up 18.68 percent, compared to Microsoft's 15.16 percent gain or Google's 0.94 percent rise.
AAPL Dividends & Buybacks
Dividends are a minority portion of Apple's shareholder capital return program, the majority of which has been earmarked for buying back outstanding shares, (which increases the scarcity, and therefore value, of Apple's stock by taking shares off the market and retiring them. Removing shares from circulation also enhances the company's closely-watched earnings per share metrics).Over the past year, Apple has been paying out around $2.8 billion in dividends every quarter, a figure that had increased 15 percent over the $2.5 billion Apple had been paying in 2012, before it first increased its dividend payments last May. This quarter, Apple's dividend payments will amount to $2.9 billion.
Apple has spent $51 billion on stock buybacks since initiating its capital return program, including an opportunistic $14 billion share grab initiated after the stock plunged more than 8 percent in January following the company's holiday Q1 release which detailed its highest ever quarterly revenues and operating profits--results that the tech media depicted as "disappointing."
Apple subsequently issued a third $12 billion ASR and executed an additional $2 billion in open market purchases, then spent an additional $4 billion in open market purchases in the spring quarter, resulting in an $18 billion total buyback for fiscal Q2.
Apple has since continued its quarterly pace of buying back $5 billion in shares off the open market in the June quarter, and noted in SEC filings that it expects to continue, although it is not obligated to do so. Apple has another $39 billion set aside to buyback shares under its current capital return program, which is currently slated to continue through the end of calendar 2015.
Comments
Short answer: not [I]ex ante[/I]. But the stock could always go up for other reasons.... Or down.
Also: AAPL starts trading ex-dividend on Thursday the 7th (morning, I believe), which would mean tomorrow is your last day to get in on the divy.
Aug 11 is simply the recording day. In prep for disbursement.
Exactly!!! You must become the beneficial owner of the shares prior to the shares going ex-dividend, which, as Bob indicates, is this week, not next week on the 11th. Anyone thinking of buying for the dividend, or selling to avoid any ex-dividend drop in the share price should heed the ex-dividend date and not the record date stated in this article.
Explaining the sizable drop in the stock over the past week? Buy low, sell high after it gains in short order? Buy, collect on the dividend and abandon ship? These Wall Street dirtbags...
Do be aware, that you can SELL your stock that you have been holding AFTER the ex-dividend date (This Thursday) and you will still receive payment of the dividend for that stock when it is paid out. (Aug 14)
Mac Pro I presume(?) Still, very Powerful machine.
Mac Pro I presume(?) Still, very Powerful machine.
Yea, one of those too.
And even if somebody is considering in "trying" to profit from dividends, their are still fees to pay for buying and selling shares, it would hardly not be worth anybodies effort unless they were planning on buying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth - and if they had that much money, i would be very surprised to learn they were not already investing it.
Exactly, just people working for their own self-interest. But wait, doesn't Apple's stock price follow their earnings results? This value can't possibly be manipulated by the investors looking to get the best returns from the price that is determined by how they trade.
Don't forget about the 20% tax penalty added for short term capital gains.
Nah man. You can make a decent amount playing dividends. The fees are only $7 per trade at Scottrade. Even if you buy only $10k worth that very small.
Try to buy today at the low price and then sell in a week or so.
Mark this post and watch in a week.
I'd say buy today at any price under $95 (you can buy it under $95 right now in pre-market)
$94.90 x 300 shares = $28,470
$7 fee to buy $7 fee to sell
The sell/buy fee will only add 5 cents a share to your basis
Adjusted basis = $94.95
Tomorrow's dividend = $141
I see what you mean, but the initial investment is substantial.
If for example AAPL drops 50 cents over the couple of weeks on 300 shares, that's the dividend lost and more.
All of my spare cash is already tied into AAPL anyways, but by all means, if I had $30k spare, it would definitely be going into AAPL.
And here I was going to get myself a nice offshore bank account for when the fan is dropped into the sewage treatment plant. What am I supposed to do now? Guess I’ll buy some guns.
I recommend getting ones that make a large "bang" sound. They're all the rage.
That gives me an idea. In addition to buying a proper gun, I want to get a realistic fake gun with a trigger that activates one of those roll out “BANG!” flags. With the weight of a real gun and everything
Keep that one downstairs over the mantle (great, now I have to build a fireplace) so that intruders can try to hold me hostage or whatever before I shoot him with the real one. And then whammo! I’m sued for entrapment and the crook gets my money anyway.
Wait...
Anyone with half a brain would fact check a story on a rumour site. Hmm, that may come across as derogative towards you, which isn't my intention. Carry on. PM them