Apella Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 45.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,837 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 35,328 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 0.9% of Apella Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Apella Capital LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $25,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Insider Transactions at Apple
In other 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 transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.95.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Apple
Apple Trading Up 0.4%
Apple stock traded up $0.92 during trading on Friday, hitting $213.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 34,955,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,618,682. The stock's fifty day moving average is $203.26 and its 200 day moving average is $219.14. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during 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 was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.
Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are 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 issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 Profile
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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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