Aspire Growth Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 37,722 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $9,429,000. Apple accounts for about 9.2% of Aspire Growth Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 24,931.3% during the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 10,368,233 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,596,413,000 after purchasing an additional 10,326,812 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade 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 have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $2.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $196.45. The company had a trading volume of 51,345,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,742,937. The company's fifty day moving average is $201.76 and its 200 day moving average is $223.02. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership 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.