Apple could give big boost to stock buybacks, dividend
Apple Inc. could boost its stock buyback program by $40 billion to $50 billion, and "comfortably" raise its dividend by 10% to 15%, when it announces its shareholder-return plans next month, analyst Amit Daryanani wrote in a note to clients Monday. The company could "implicitly commit" to returning all of its annual free cash flow to investors, given that it has $200 billion in cash, Daryanani said. Apple is expected to update its capital allocation program when it reports fiscal second-quarter results on April 19. He reiterated his outperform rating on Apple's stock, and his $130 price target, which is 23% above Thursday's closing price of $105.67. The stock, which tacked on 0.3% in premarket trade, has gained 0.4% year to date, compared with a 0.5% gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
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