Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Acquires 84,082 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 9.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 958,647 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 84,082 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.8% of Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $212,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Apple by 13.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.37.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $230.11. 19,336,211 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,990,016. The business's 50-day moving average is $213.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Company 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.