Apple Recap: Legal Response, Dividend Date, iPhone Battles

After being in the green for most of the day, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) closed 0.09 percent down at $466.59 on Thursday as the limelight stayed on the company’s capital allocation practices. Here are the top stories that moved the stock on the day:

Apple Files Response

David Einhorn told the Apple top management that getting shareholder vote would be an unnecessary roadblock to issuing preferred stock, the company said in a court filing on Wednesday. Apple was responding to a lawsuit filed by Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital fund against it in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, hoping to block a February 27 shareholders’ vote on a proxy proposal. Einhorn wants Apple to issue perpetual preferred stock with a 4 percent dividend to existing shareholders.

Apple said in its response that while it was not opposed to issuing preferred stock, it wanted to ensure that shareholders had a say in the matter. Einhorn “viewed requiring shareholder approval for his … proposal as a ‘roadblock that was not needed’,” Apple chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said in the filing.  “We told Mr. Einhorn that Apple was considering his proposal, but that the Board would not issue his proposed perpetual preferred shares without shareholder approval,” Oppenheimer added… (Read more)