Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC Invests $25.71 Million in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 115,718 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $25,705,000. Apple comprises approximately 4.7% of Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.4% during the first quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 261,880 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $58,171,000 after buying an additional 30,863 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.6% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 36,730 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,159,000 after buying an additional 4,121 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 79.1% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 488,752 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $109,085,000 after buying an additional 215,804 shares during the last quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 35.7% during the first quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 87,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $19,436,000 after buying an additional 23,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Destiny Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the first quarter. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC now owns 71,486 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $15,879,000 after buying an additional 1,317 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of AAPL traded down $1.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $211.16. 39,713,698 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,349,236. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $203.39 and a 200-day moving average of $217.12.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group set a $210.00 target price on Apple and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Loop Capital cut their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.27.

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.