Carlson Capital Management Purchases 12,718 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Carlson Capital Management increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 28.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,832 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 12,718 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 0.6% of Carlson Capital Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Carlson Capital Management's holdings in Apple were worth $14,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $625,084,000. Second Half Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,199,000. West Family Investments Inc. increased its position in Apple by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 45,722 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $10,653,000 after buying an additional 6,546 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 53,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,500,000 after buying an additional 1,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yardley Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $396,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price objective (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded down $0.94 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $199.01. The stock had a trading volume of 70,744,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,229,633. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $203.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.00.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is 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.