Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Crane Advisory LLC's 10th Largest Position

Crane Advisory LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 18.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,536 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 14,957 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.8% of Crane Advisory LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Crane Advisory LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $21,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,199,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. TruWealth Advisors LLC increased 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 worth $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Allstate Corp increased 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 worth $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares during the period. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Apple by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $192,700,000 after buying an additional 83,997 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 13th. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.11.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $214.91. The company had a trading volume of 14,460,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,633,410. 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 50-day moving average of $204.67 and a 200 day moving average of $215.18. The company has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.20. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during 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 company's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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.