Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.'s 4th Largest Position

Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 84.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,213 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 35,884 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.5% of Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $19,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 23,555.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 25,285.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,411,260,000 after acquiring an additional 9,590,933 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $2.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $196.45. 51,345,532 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 54,742,937. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company's 50 day moving average is $201.76 and its 200 day moving average is $223.02.

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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share 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 buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 5th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday, June 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

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.