Founders Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,095 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 1,802 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 3.4% of Founders Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Founders Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $18,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Apple by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at Apple
In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Apple Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $1.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $211.16. The company had a trading volume of 39,713,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,349,236. The firm's fifty day moving average is $203.39 and its 200 day moving average is $217.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.
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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.
Apple announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.27.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on AAPL
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.
Featured Articles
Before you consider Apple, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Apple wasn't on the list.
While Apple currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Wondering what the next stocks will be that hit it big, with solid fundamentals? Enter your email address to see which stocks MarketBeat analysts could become the next blockbuster growth stocks.
Get This Free Report
