Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares closed slightly higher on Tuesday.

Apple is reportedly changing its approach to software updates. The tech giant appears to be opting for staggered rollouts of new features instead of bundling everything into annual iOS releases.

In his latest weekly "Power On" newsletter, Bloomberg columnist Mark Gurman said that Cupertino plans a significant update with iOS 18.4 this spring.

With the recent buzz around Apple, some investors may be eyeing potential gains from the company's dividends too. As of now, Apple offers an annual dividend yield of 0.43%, which is a quarterly dividend amount of 25 cents per share ($1.00 a year).

So, how can investors exploit its dividend yield to pocket a regular $500 monthly?

To earn $500 per month or $6,000 annually from dividends alone, you would need an investment of approximately $1,410,360 or around 6,000 shares. For a more modest $100 per month or $1,200 per year, you would need $282,072 or around 1,200 shares.

To calculate: Divide the desired annual income ($6,000 or $1,200) by the dividend ($1.00 in this case). So, $6,000 / $1.00 = 6,000 ($500 per month), and $1,200 / $1.00 = 1,200 shares ($100 per month).

Note that dividend yield can change on a rolling basis, as the dividend payment and the stock price both fluctuate over time.

How that works: The dividend yield is computed by dividing the annual dividend payment by the stock's current price.

For example, if a stock pays an annual dividend of $2 and is currently priced at $50, the dividend yield would be 4% ($2/$50). However, if the stock price increases to $60, the dividend yield drops to 3.33% ($2/$60). Conversely, if the stock price falls to $40, the dividend yield rises to 5% ($2/$40).

Similarly, changes in the dividend payment can impact the yield. If a company increases its dividend, the yield will also increase, provided the stock price stays the same. Conversely, if the dividend payment decreases, so will the yield.

AAPL Price Action: Shares of Apple gained 0.9% to close at $235.06 on Tuesday.

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