Post date: Mar 19, 2012 10:25:49 PM
Now that Apple shareholders will have some extra cash in their accounts - what other companies are sitting on piles of cash and could fork over more dollars to investors?
USA-APPLE/TECH DIVIDENDS - If cash is king- then Apple has been perched comfortably on its throne for some time. With over $97 billion on hand- it easily rules Moody's list of the top cash rich U.S. companies.
Now that it has announced a dividend and a buyback- the rest of the cash rich list is getting a looking over.
Microsoft and Cisco are in second and third place- and already pay dividends.
But it's the next name that could have investors searching for a payout.
Howard Silverblatt of S&P Indices:
HOWARD SILVERBLATT, SENIOR INDEX ANALYST, S&P INDICES SAYING:
"Google is the largest company; currently has enormous cash and has the ability so what you need in that case is for them to decide to do it just as Apple made the decision to do it."
According to Moody's, Google has about $44 billion cash on hand. The technology industry has more cash than any other U.S. sector- much of it is held overseas- often to avoid U.S. taxes.
At the same time - tech companies are under pressure to have money on hand for things like acquisitions or research that will produce the next product to drive growth.
Michael Gayed is the Chief Investment Strategist at Pension Partners LLC.
MICHAEL GAYED, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, PENSION PARTNERS LLC SAYING:
"In general, tech companies when they initiate dividends, it's not really seen as a positive because the implication is well then they can't find other growth opportunities and technology as a sector tends to be a growth sector."
But despite that perception, tech companies have begun to share the wealth.
HOWARD SILVERBLATT, SENIOR INDEX ANALYST, S&P INDICES (ENGLISH) SAYING:
"Technology does pay relatively well now. It's difficult to grasp that if you go back about 15 years ago but I think it came of age in 2003 with Microsoft and this is a continuation of that."
BOBBI REBELL, REUTERS SAYING:
Given Apple's incredible cash flow- the dividend- will barely even nibble at its mound of cash- a mound that keeps growing bigger with each new product.
Bobbi Rebell, Reuters.