Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Has $625.39 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,815,403 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 42,383 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 7.2% of Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $625,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded up $1.47 on Thursday, reaching $212.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 27,305,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,417,384. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.20. The business's fifty day moving average price is $203.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $218.03. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 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 return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.27.

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.