North Forty Two & Co. Takes $3.14 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

North Forty Two & Co. bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 12,529 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $3,138,000. Apple comprises about 3.6% of North Forty Two & Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 23,555.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,411,260,000 after purchasing an additional 9,590,933 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.94 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $199.01. The stock had a trading volume of 70,744,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,280,416. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $203.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.20.

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 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

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.