DSG Capital Advisors LLC Takes $49.90 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 199,267 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $49,900,000. Apple comprises about 9.0% of DSG Capital Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded down $1.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $200.30. The stock had a trading volume of 53,951,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,512,318. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $221.12. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Company 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.