Aurdan Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 3,420 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Aurdan Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,420 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $856,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Maxim Group increased their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $196.58 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $202.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.00. The company has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

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 given a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple 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.

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