Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Clarius Group LLC

Clarius Group LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 151,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 18,258 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 2.1% of Clarius Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Clarius Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $33,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's 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 directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays set a $173.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.94.

Apple Trading Up 0.1%

AAPL traded up $0.12 on Friday, hitting $213.88. The company had a trading volume of 38,805,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 49,464,392. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.31, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company's fifty day moving average price is $204.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.58. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company 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 167.24%. The business'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 firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 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.