Apple Inc. is considering a stock split that could prompt the company to be added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, according to a research report from Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

Apple’s decision in March to pay its first dividend in 17 years makes it more likely the stock could be added to the index after a split, said Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Bernstein who rates the shares outperform, in a report.

“We see the timing as ripe,” Sacconaghi said. “Apple’s initiation of a dividend brings the company in line with all other Dow components. We note that Apple is currently the only company above $215 billion in market cap that pays a dividend and is not included in the Dow.”

Apple, the world’s largest company by market value, climbed 1.6 percent to $604.36 at 9:32 a.m. in New York. The shares of the Cupertino, California-based company have risen 47 percent this year through Monday.