Bay Capital Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bay Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 12,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $3,150,000. Apple comprises approximately 2.5% of Bay Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, 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 value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $3.14 on Friday, reaching $203.77. 23,305,778 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,992,980. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.35, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The business's 50 day moving average price is $201.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $224.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program 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 programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.02.

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.