Apple issues $14B worth of bonds to fund buybacks, corporate initiatives

Apple on Monday officially issued $14 billion worth of bonds, tapping the market to fund corporate operations like share buybacks and dividends to shareholders.

News of Apple's plan to sell bonds first surfaced at the beginning of February. On Feb. 8, the company made the issuance official, announcing that it would issue debt in five parts.

Apple is issuing $2.5 billion worth of 0.7% bonds that mature in 2026, $2.75 billion worth of 1.65% bonds that mature in 2031, $1.5 billion worth of 2.375% bonds that mature in 2041, $3 billion worth of 2.65% bonds that mature in 2051, and $1.75 billion worth of 2.8% bonds that mature in 2061. Interest will be paid on the note semi-annually in February and August each year.

The Cupertino company plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including stock buybacks, paying dividends to shareholders, working capital, capital expenditures, repayment of debt, or acquisitions.

Today's debt sale also marks the third time that Apple has tapped the market since May 2020. Apple issued bond sales of $8 billion in May, and another $5.5 billion bond sale in August.

22 Comments

22july2013 3725 comments · 11 Years

About 3 years ago

I would enjoy seeing a breakdown of who actually owns Apple. My guess is that the vast majority of it is owned by very small individual investors through brokerage houses and mutual funds. I suppose bond holders could also be considered owners. Clearly some corporations are holders of Apple stock, but then you would have to examine who the owners of those corporations are, and once again you will usually end up with small individuals.

flydog 1140 comments · 14 Years

22july2013 said:

I would enjoy seeing a breakdown of who actually owns Apple. My guess is that the vast majority of it is owned by very small individual investors through brokerage houses and mutual funds. I suppose bond holders could also be considered owners. Clearly some corporations are holders of Apple stock, but then you would have to examine who the owners of those corporations are, and once again you will usually end up with small individuals.

https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=AAPL&subView=institutional

anantksundaram 20390 comments · 18 Years

22july2013 said:

I would enjoy seeing a breakdown of who actually owns Apple. My guess is that the vast majority of it is owned by very small individual investors through brokerage houses and mutual funds. I suppose bond holders could also be considered owners. Clearly some corporations are holders of Apple stock, but then you would have to examine who the owners of those corporations are, and once again you will usually end up with small individuals.

Institutions own >60% of Apple. This is similar for most large, publicly traded companies in the US.

That said, Apple has a greater proportion of retail ownership than most other large companies. See the breakdown here: https://eresearch.fidelity.com/eresearch/evaluate/fundamentals/ownership.jhtml?stockspage=ownership&symbols=aapl

(Bondholders would not be considered owners).

randominternetperson 3095 comments · 8 Years

flydog said:

22july2013 said:

I would enjoy seeing a breakdown of who actually owns Apple. My guess is that the vast majority of it is owned by very small individual investors through brokerage houses and mutual funds. I suppose bond holders could also be considered owners. Clearly some corporations are holders of Apple stock, but then you would have to examine who the owners of those corporations are, and once again you will usually end up with small individuals.

https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=AAPL&subView=institutional

Thanks for that link. "Institutional investors hold a majority ownership of AAPL through the 59.15% of the outstanding shares that they control. This interest is also higher than at almost any other company in the Telecommunications Equipment industry."

Although I don't understand the numbers shown:
Other institutional 31.15%
Mutual fund holders 28.00%
Individual stakeholders 0.32%

Is that supposed to be 32% for individual stakeholders? Even so where is the remaining 8% or so?

crowley 10431 comments · 15 Years

22july2013 said:

I would enjoy seeing a breakdown of who actually owns Apple. My guess is that the vast majority of it is owned by very small individual investors through brokerage houses and mutual funds. I suppose bond holders could also be considered owners. Clearly some corporations are holders of Apple stock, but then you would have to examine who the owners of those corporations are, and once again you will usually end up with small individuals.

What does the size of the individual have to do with anything?