Enhancing Capital LLC Takes $836,000 Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Enhancing Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,338 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $836,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Bank of America cut their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Price Performance

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

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast 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 issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire 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 shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.