Sienna Gestion Buys 385,419 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sienna Gestion boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 860.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 430,191 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 385,419 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 7.3% of Sienna Gestion's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Sienna Gestion's holdings in Apple were worth $107,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 target price (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $200.42. 44,115,560 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,228,220. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business's 50 day moving average is $204.01 and its 200-day moving average is $225.36.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Company 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.