Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Heritage Investors Management Corp

Heritage Investors Management Corp lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 736,090 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 4,304 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 5.9% of Heritage Investors Management Corp's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Heritage Investors Management Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $184,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.5% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,121,107 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $258,707,000 after buying an additional 106,701 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 30,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $7,007,000 after acquiring an additional 1,735 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 127,059 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $29,605,000 after acquiring an additional 7,308 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 70,475 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,421,000 after purchasing an additional 6,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.1% during the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 102,798 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $23,952,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Trading Down 1.1 %

Apple stock traded down $2.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $196.26. The stock had a trading volume of 67,172,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,100,768. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.13. 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 market capitalization of $2.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company 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%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company'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 value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.