Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 99.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,986 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 69,728 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.5% of Headlands Technologies LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Headlands Technologies LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $35,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.0% during the third quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. now owns 90,845 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $21,167,000 after buying an additional 2,605 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 508,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $118,430,000 after acquiring an additional 8,013 shares during the period. Red Wave Investments LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Red Wave Investments LLC now owns 24,521 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,714,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 9,887,520 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,303,792,000 after buying an additional 25,126 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Activity at Apple
In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the 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 directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Maxim Group increased their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued 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 price target of $234.86.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on AAPL
Apple Stock Down 1.4%
Shares of AAPL traded down $2.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $196.45. 51,276,660 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 57,959,574. The business has a 50 day moving average of $201.28 and a 200 day moving average of $223.37. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.
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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.
Apple announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan 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 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.
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.
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