SAN FRANCISCO — Apple Inc has approved another $30 billion in share buybacks till the end of 2015 and authorized a rarely seen seven-for-one stock split, addressing calls to share more of its cash hoard while broadening the stock's appeal to individual investors. The company also approved a roughly 8 percent increase in its quarterly dividend to $3.29 per share. Activist investor Carl Icahn, who had famously called on the iPhone maker to boost its buyback program, tweeted his approval of the move on Wednesday. Shares of the company, which have remain mired around the $500 to $550 range since the start of the year, jumped 7 percent to $561.51 in after-hours trade. Apple reported sales of 43.7 million iPhones in the quarter ended March, far outpacing the roughly 38 million that Wall Street had predicted. – Reuters
