Is Apple Ready to Dole Out Cash?

With Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) massive stockpile of cash drawing widespread attention, it might be time for the company to look for ways to give back some of it to investors, and the iPhone-maker has been considering various options.

Over the past few years, Apple’s cash reserves have soared to nearly $137 billion, which is more than the company needs to operate. Now, Apple is looking at ways to increase shareholder value with that money.

Apple had been thinking about using the cash to make acquisitions, but according to CEO Tim Cook, there weren’t any companies enticing enough for Apple, and that left Apple with a bigger reserve of cash than any US company.

Last year, Apple announced that it would work on a way to give back $45 billion to its investors over the course of 3 years, and $10 billion of that plan should be made public within the next week…