Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 174,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,871 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 6.1% of Abacus FCF Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $38,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Investments LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. 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 report on Thursday, April 3rd. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.27.

Apple Stock Down 0.6%

AAPL traded down $1.25 on Friday, hitting $211.16. 39,713,698 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,348,025. The company has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $203.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.41. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

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. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.