Capital Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 453,545 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 8,728 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.0% of Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $100,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, 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 transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, 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. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays set a $173.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.95.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $210.01 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $203.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $218.08. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. 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.

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