Edge Capital Group LLC Purchases 3,821 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Edge Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 114,186 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,821 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.5% of Edge Capital Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Edge Capital Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $28,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Latitude Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,016,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Sensible Financial Planning & Management LLC. bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $1,577,000. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 49,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $11,531,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Values Added Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Values Added Financial LLC now owns 26,561 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,189,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sitrin Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 31.0% during the third quarter. Sitrin Capital Management LLC now owns 50,501 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $11,767,000 after buying an additional 11,936 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $6.46 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $198.89. 67,364,869 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,243,494. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $212.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.58. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

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

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush downgraded shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Maxim Group increased their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple 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.