Auxano Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Auxano Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 147,507 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 4,233 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 9.3% of Auxano Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Auxano Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $36,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price target (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.80.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale 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 owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% 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 valued at $41,760,140 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL traded up $2.14 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $212.93. 51,637,380 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,107,660. 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 company has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $207.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $227.19. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 repurchase 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.