Altiora Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 64.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,715 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 4,209 shares during the quarter. Altiora Financial Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 419,435 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $97,726,000 after purchasing an additional 15,413 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 32.6% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 356,886 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $83,154,000 after buying an additional 87,839 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Financial LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 62,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $14,563,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its holdings in Apple by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 499,426 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $116,265,000 after acquiring an additional 96,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 34,486,195 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,035,283,000 after acquiring an additional 432,140 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity at Apple
In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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. The trade was a 17.81% 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 worth $42,694,080 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on AAPL
Apple Trading Down 2.3%
Shares of AAPL traded down $4.77 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $202.09. 59,113,086 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,963,045. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $226.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.08, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week 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 firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.
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 paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.
Apple Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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