(Reuters) - Apple Inc said it would host a conference call on Monday morning to discuss the outcome of discussions about its cash balance.

Apple has $98 billion in cash and securities, a hoard that has been drawing calls by investors to put the massive reserves to work.

Wall Street has increasingly bet that Apple will this year return cash to shareholders, taking their cue from Chief Executive Tim Cook's comments about "active discussions" at the top levels about the matter.

Cook recently said he had been "thinking very deeply" about investors' demands that the iPad and iPod maker return some of the cash to shareholders via a dividend.

"Frankly speaking, it's more than we need to run the company," Cook said at the annual shareholders meeting in February.

Analysts have said the return of cash to shareholders could take the form of a one-time dividend or share buyback to address a longstanding desire on the part of investors, while potentially opening the stock to a new class of investors who seek a dividend yield.

"A dividend makes sense," said Shaw Wu, analyst with Sterne Agee. The decision "is probably going to be pretty binary. It's going to be either yes or no. Many are hoping the answer is going to be yes.

"It's more likely they are considering it. I am not sure they are going to necessarily say it's to be effective immediately," Wu said.

On the possibility of a buyback, Wu said it would be possible, but the value to shareholders would be more questionable.

"The issue with (a) buyback is that the payback for investors is not as tangible. With a dividend, you get a check in the mail," Wu said.

Wu discounted the possibility of a stock split, saying it makes it more difficult to beat earnings consensus numbers.

Mounting anticipation over a buyback, along with hopes the newest iPad will keep sales momentum strong, helped propel Apple's stock to a record high this month past $600 a share.

The call, to be held at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) on Monday, will not provide an update on the current quarter nor will it touch upon any topics other than cash, Apple said in a statement on Sunday.

Apple declined to comment further on the press advisory.

Apple Sets Quarterly Dividend of $2.65/Share; Board OKs $10B Buyback, Says It Expects to Spend $45B Over 3 Years

Apple didn’t wait until its earnings call this morning to disclose what it’s going to do with its $100 billion cash hoard: It will start cutting dividend checks, and will buy back some of its shares as well. Total bill: About $45 billion over the next three years.

Details from the press release:

“Subject to declaration by the Board of Directors, the Company plans to initiate a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share sometime in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2012, which begins on July 1, 2012.

Additionally, the Company’s Board of Directors has authorized a $10 billion share repurchase program commencing in the Company’s fiscal 2013, which begins on September 30, 2012. The repurchase program is expected to be executed over three years, with the primary objective of neutralizing the impact of dilution from future employee equity grants and employee stock purchase programs.”