Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Checchi Capital Advisers LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 186,100 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 10,872 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.7% of Checchi Capital Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $46,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $59,122,000 after acquiring an additional 28,799 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in Apple by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $87,501,000 after acquiring an additional 34,414 shares during the period. 5th Street Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simmons Bank increased its stake in Apple by 1.6% in the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $30,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $198.92 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $210.55 and a 200 day moving average of $228.13.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Moffett Nathanson restated a "sell" rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.

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