Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by New Age Alpha Advisors LLC

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 214,982.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 225,837 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 225,732 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.3% of New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $56,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 1.6%

AAPL traded up $3.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $203.92. 46,477,335 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,154,463. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock's 50-day moving average is $201.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America cut their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 target price (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Maxim Group raised their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.02.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% 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. Company 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.