Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Increased by University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co.

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 109,053 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 6,211 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 3.2% of University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Apple were worth $27,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $0.94 during trading on Thursday, hitting $196.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 45,342,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,338,522. 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 company has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $202.17 and a 200-day moving average of $222.30. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business 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 business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

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.