Clark Asset Management LLC Buys 4,056 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Clark Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. (AAPL) by 6.5%, making it the firm's 9th largest position with shares valued at approximately $14.81 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 67.73% of Apple's stock, indicating strong institutional interest, with significant stakes held by funds like Vanguard and Northern Trust.
• Apple recently announced a $100 billion stock buyback plan and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, demonstrating confidence in its financial stability.

Clark Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 66,674 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 4,056 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.5% of Clark Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Clark Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $14,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.6% in the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 28.3% in the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 2.8% in the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp raised its stake in Apple by 3,368.2% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.98.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded up $3.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $228.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,751,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,281,676. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $211.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.13. 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, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is 15.78%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.