Davis R M Inc. Acquires 4,389 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Davis R M Inc. boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,123,548 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 4,389 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 5.5% of Davis R M Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Davis R M Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $281,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Tigress Financial increased their target price 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. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $4.77 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $202.09. The stock had a trading volume of 59,113,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,963,045. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $205.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $226.43. 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 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm 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. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.