Graney & King LLC Buys Shares of 8,586 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,586 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,150,000. Apple accounts for 1.6% of Graney & King LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $192,700,000 after purchasing an additional 83,997 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,972,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 6.3% in the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,670,000 after buying an additional 1,695 shares during the period. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,308,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Finally, Berkshire Bank lifted its position in Apple by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $22,433,000 after buying an additional 2,360 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $3.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $203.92. The stock had a trading volume of 46,447,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,081,504. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $201.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $224.35.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 0.51%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson raised their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 16th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.02.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last quarter. 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.