Umpqua Bank Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Umpqua Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 63,194 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,550 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 5.1% of Umpqua Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Umpqua Bank's holdings in Apple were worth $14,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% 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 valued at $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $1.48 on Wednesday, reaching $204.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,857,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,960,202. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.56, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The business's 50-day moving average price is $202.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.69. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for 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%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.