Bayesian Capital Management LP Purchases 19,400 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bayesian Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 923.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 19,400 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 0.7% of Bayesian Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Bayesian Capital Management LP's holdings in Apple were worth $5,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth about $71,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Loop Capital cut their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

Apple Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $2.78 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $195.64. 38,709,101 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 54,633,249. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.66.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 167.24%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase 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 0.53%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

About Apple

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.