Wells Fargo: Apple may need to raise more debt to pay for increased share repurchase

Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um believes that Apple's $20 billion in onshore cash and the $6.5 billion bond offering would easily pay for the current share repurchase program and a projected 9 percent increase in the company's dividend, but would not stretch beyond that. Um made the prediction in a Monday evening note to investors, a copy of which was provided to AppleInsider.

As noted by Um, Apple raised $17 billion in 2013 and increased the buyback program by $50 billion with $42 billion in domestic cash on the balance sheet. 2014 brought a $12 billion raise with $18 billion in domestic cash and a $30 billion increase to the repurchase initiative.

It remains unclear whether Apple will in fact enlarge its now-$130 billion capital return program this year. The company spent $5 billion to repurchase 46 million shares in the first fiscal quarter of 2015 and retired an additional 8 million shares.

During the company's most recent earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said that Apple continues to "solicit feedback from a broad base of investors" and promised a program update would be announced during the next call in April.

Activist investor Carl Icahn, who has amassed a significant position in Apple, continues to advocate for increased buybacks. Icahn recently suggested that he would increase his current $203 price target for Apple shares.