98$ billion awaits for Apple’s decision

Apple Inc, the world’s most valuable company, will discuss on Monday what it plans to do with its $98 billion cash hoard, raising expectations it may meet demands to pay a dividend for the first time since 1995.

Just days after its stock touched $600 per share, Apple issued a short press advisory saying it would hold a conference call on Monday to discuss the outcome of discussions about its cash balances.

The maker of the iPhone, iPad and iPod has $98 billion in cash and securities, equal to about $104 a share according to ISI Group analyst Brian Marshall.

Wall Street has increasingly bet that Apple will return cash this year to shareholders, taking a cue from Chief Executive Tim Cook’s comments about “active discussions” at the top levels about the matter.

Cook recently said he had been “thinking very deeply” about investors’ demands that Apple return some of the cash to shareholders via a dividend.

“Frankly speaking, it’s more than we need to run the company,” Cook said at the annual shareholders meeting in February, as Reuters stated.

Apple last paid a dividend in 1995, as in 1996, Apple posted a net loss of $816 million.

Analysts have said the return of cash to shareholders could take the form of a one-time dividend or even an annual payout, potentially opening the stock up to a new class of investors who seek a dividend yield. Alternatively, the return could be carried out through a share buyback.