Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Acquires 21,811 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 189,297 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 21,811 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 9.0% of Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV's holdings in Apple were worth $47,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Omnia Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 37,048 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $9,278,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the period. Landaas & Co. WI ADV grew its holdings in Apple by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Landaas & Co. WI ADV now owns 29,265 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $7,329,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. ABLE Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 44,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $11,221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,446 shares during the period. KMT Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $409,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $23,233,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday, June 1st. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Three 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $4.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $201.00. 95,792,149 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,610,148. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. The business's 50-day moving average price is $202.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $221.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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

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.