Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Great Lakes Retirement Inc.

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 2,953 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.6% of Great Lakes Retirement Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $19,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $215.00. 26,462,465 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,728,691. 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 current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.46, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.20. The business's 50-day moving average price is $204.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm'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 owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AAPL. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.11.

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.