Old North State Trust LLC lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 23.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,348 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 10,494 shares during the period. Apple comprises 8.7% of Old North State Trust LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Old North State Trust LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $13,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 34,955 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,145,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Wealth Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,366,000. Copia Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,358,000. IronOak Wealth LLC. acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,364,000. Finally, Arcadia Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,804,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Apple Stock Down 0.6%
NASDAQ AAPL traded down $1.20 on Tuesday, reaching $200.30. The company had a trading volume of 53,951,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,512,318. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company's fifty day moving average is $202.33 and its 200-day moving average is $221.12.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Apple
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Apple Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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