Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. Has $11.31 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 2.6% in Q1, making it the firm's second largest investment position at about $11.3 million.
• Apple reported earnings per share of $1.57, exceeding analysts' estimates, with quarterly revenue of $94.04 billion, marking a 9.6% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, with shares expected to be bought back worth up to $100 billion under a new share buyback program.

Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,901 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.3% of Brown Lisle Cummings Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $11,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Antonelli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth about $14,617,000. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 8.8% in the first quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,770 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 16.3% in the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,467 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $11,655,000 after purchasing an additional 7,341 shares during the period. Friday Financial grew its holdings in Apple by 232.2% in the first quarter. Friday Financial now owns 16,902 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,784,000 after purchasing an additional 11,814 shares during the period. Finally, Jericho Financial LLP lifted its position in Apple by 2.4% during the first quarter. Jericho Financial LLP now owns 31,297 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,952,000 after buying an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.25.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $203.35. The stock had a trading volume of 74,983,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,129,035. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $205.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value 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. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.