Exchange Capital Management Inc. Purchases 6,592 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Exchange Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 24.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,033 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 6,592 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.3% of Exchange Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Exchange Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $8,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Latitude Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 4.7% during the third quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 5,681 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,317,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 241,004 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $55,614,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Visionary Horizons LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.0% during the third quarter. Visionary Horizons LLC now owns 5,125 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,194,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.5% during the third quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 14,430 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,362,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $198.92. 49,654,320 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,219,123. The firm's fifty day moving average is $211.32 and its 200-day moving average is $228.33. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Moffett Nathanson restated a "sell" rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Maxim Group raised their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush lowered shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.80.

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.