Apple Inc. on Sunday said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, and Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO, will host a conference call to announce the outcome of the Company’s discussions concerning its cash balance.

According to Analysts Apple may institute a dividend. It had $97.6 billion in cash and securities at the end of last year.

 A dividend would reward shareholders and open ownership of Apple shares to a wider range of funds. Many "value-oriented" funds are not allowed to buy stocks that don''t pay dividends.

Analysts say the lack of a dividend or other meaningful way of using the cash has held down Apple's share price.

Partly in anticipation of a dividend, Apple's stock has risen 37 per cent since the January 24 conference call, closing much of the gap between analyst price targets and the actual stock price. In February, Apple shares broke the $500 level for the first time. Last week, they briefly rose above $600.

Apple is the world's most valuable publicly traded company, with a market capitalization of $545 billion.