Wall Street cheered Apple’s stock split and buyback plans, but what do small Apple shareholders think?
Apple’s buyback and stock split announcement was a big deal to Wall Street players.
But what about the little guy?
“The stock price is extreme,” said Stuart MacGillivray, a computer science PhD candidate, of the planned 7 for 1 stock split. He’s owned Apple stock since the early 1990s when he got it as a gift from his grandmother, so this isn’t his first time at the stock split rodeo.
“I can see why they did it,” he said.
Apple (AAPL) is hoping its split will drive up the company’s value by making it more affordable for mom and pop investors like Ken Chapman, who works in the oil sands business in Edmonton, Canada.
Related: Apple’s stock split: why 7 to 1?
Chapman said once the stock split goes into effect, he’ll definitely consider buying Apple stock. But for now, it’s too expensive.
“The average person now isn’t able to buy a lot,” he said. “If they do buy it, they don’t have as much diversification.”
But while he’s happy that Apple will become more reasonably priced for small investors like himself, Chapman isn’t too keen on the buyback.
He thinks that while the buyback generated immediate gains on paper, he wants to see the company “create genuine wealth” by taking risks and investing in new technologies.
“I like the product, I like the company,” Chapman said. “It’s just that I would think they would take their wealth and use their imagination to expand beyond gadgets.”
Tom Pszeniczny, a Drexel University senior who owns nine shares of Apple, has mixed feelings about the buyback.
He wants Apple to continue to innovate and grow, rather than simply boost buybacks and dividends to placate shareholders. He’s lost money on his Apple investment so far, but plans to hold onto it as part of a long-term strategy.
“I’d like to see new research and development and acquisitions,” he said. “I don’t want to see it become a really stale and boring company.”
Related: Will 7 Apples a day keep the bears away?
Still, he’s happy with the current buyback plan overall and applauds investors like Carl Icahn that have publicly pushed for Apple to return some of its massive cash pile to shareholders.
“I’m pretty pleased about it,” he said. “If they can’t do anything better with it, why not.”
Are you an Apple investor? Tell us what you think of the company’s plans to split its stock and boost its buyback program.
