Carret Asset Management LLC Purchases 2,217 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Carret Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 334,481 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 2,217 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 8.4% of Carret Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Carret Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $74,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its stake in Apple by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC grew its stake in Apple by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,836,000 after buying an additional 2,647 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded down $4.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $202.95. The company had a trading volume of 46,370,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,587,043. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $205.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.98. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.