Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,193 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 3,084 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.6% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $9,562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity at Apple
In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 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 of the company's stock, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Apple Stock Down 1.1%
Shares of AAPL traded down $2.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $200.63. The stock had a trading volume of 55,012,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 58,125,285. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $224.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Four 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.
Read Our Latest Analysis on AAPL
Apple Company Profile
(
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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