11,972 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Purchased by Alexis Investment Partners LLC

Alexis Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,972 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $3,010,000. Apple accounts for about 1.5% of Alexis Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,992,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $2.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $196.45. The company had a trading volume of 51,345,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,742,937. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $201.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.02. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. 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 earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates 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 previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

About Apple

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.