Chung Wu Investment Group LLC Takes $6.64 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 26,513 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $6,639,000. Apple accounts for about 6.7% of Chung Wu Investment Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. 5th Street Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares during the period. Rather & Kittrell Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. now owns 14,151 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,297,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 2.6% during the third quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 37,259 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,681,000 after buying an additional 961 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.4% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 264,322 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $61,587,000 after buying an additional 3,604 shares during the period. Finally, Resolute Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 25.5% in the third quarter. Resolute Advisors LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $211.26. The company had a trading volume of 53,614,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,938,270. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, 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. The company's fifty day moving average is $206.09 and its 200-day moving average is $226.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Maxim Group increased their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup reiterated a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 5th. DA Davidson increased 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, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" 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.