Apple stock is trading at $595 in Germany following the company's announcement of a dividend and buyback program, Bloomberg says.
UPDATE: The stock has now re-opened in the U.S. and initially dropped to $579...
Prior to the announcement, the stock traded up as high as $608.
This is obviously not a big percentage drop. But lots of people were expecting the stock to gap up on the news.
The announced dividend is $2.65 a quarter, or $10.60 a year. That's a yield of 1.8% on a $600 stock price.
The potential buyback is $10 billion, which is very modest on a $600 billion market capitalization.
Apple expects the dividend and buyback to cost about $45 billion over three years. This is likely to be less than one-third of the new cash Apple will bring in over that period. (Apple's free cash flow was $~35 billion in 2011, and we expect that will increase significantly over the next three years.)
SEE ALSO: Apple Announces $11 Dividend And $10 Billion Buyback
