Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Ayrshire Capital Management LLC

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,317 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 2,240 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.4% of Ayrshire Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $9,178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.27.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded down $1.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $211.16. 39,713,698 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,392,240. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $203.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $217.73. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS 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 repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

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.