First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,346,239 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 718,547 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 0.7% of First Trust Advisors LP's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Apple were worth $837,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 312,414 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $78,235,000 after acquiring an additional 7,937 shares during the last quarter. Frederick Financial Consultants LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,897,000. Generation Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,986,000. Holcombe Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $22,779,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 48,060 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,035,000 after acquiring an additional 1,964 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Apple
In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% 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 worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Apple Stock Performance
Shares of Apple stock opened at $196.45 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $201.76 and a 200-day moving average of $223.10. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership 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 given a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.
Read Our Latest Report on AAPL
Apple Company 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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