AAPL: Apple starts share buybacks

This morning Apple ($AAPL) announced a $10 billion share buyback and a $2.65-per-share quarterly dividend to be paid out going forward - a yield of roughly 1.77% at today's prices around $600.  Apple was smart to start relatively small, it gives the company room to raise both the buyback amount (should the stock get hit) and the dividend on a regular basis.

The company sits on over $100 billion in cash, equal to roughly a hundred dollars a share.  It is also generating an obscene amount of new cash, $16 billion in the last quarter alone.

Here's CEO Tim Cook via MarketWatch:

“We have used some of our cash to make great investments in our business through increased research and development, acquisitions, new retail store openings, strategic prepayments and capital expenditures in our supply chain, and building out our infrastructure. You’ll see more of all of these in the future,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.

This was pretty much what I expected although the yield is slightly below the 2.5% The Street "wanted".  Apple does a great job at pretending it cares about what Wall Street wants.

Move along folks, nothing to see here, business as usual for the greatest company on earth.