United Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,985 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.4% of United Advisor Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. United Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $17,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.86.
View Our Latest Stock Report on AAPL
Apple Trading Up 0.5%
NASDAQ AAPL opened at $196.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $202.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.00.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company 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. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. 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 0.53%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.
Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About Apple
(
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.
Further Reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report).
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