71,467 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Bought by Armis Advisers LLC

Armis Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 71,467 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $17,897,000. Apple comprises approximately 2.2% of Armis Advisers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 111,858 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $28,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 119,262 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $29,866,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Apple by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 3,277,536 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $820,761,000 after purchasing an additional 180,292 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Paragon Advisors LLC now owns 8,685 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,175,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557 shares during the period. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,222 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,079,000 after acquiring an additional 8,229 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's 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 $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Apple Trading Up 2.2%

AAPL traded up $4.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $201.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 95,792,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,610,148. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $202.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

About Apple

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.