CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp Raises Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in Apple Inc. by 1.3%, now owning 225,774 shares valued at approximately $50 million, making Apple its 18th largest holding.
• Analysts are generally optimistic about Apple, with several firms raising their price targets, including Citigroup and JPMorgan, suggesting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $237.60.
• Apple announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share and has a significant share buyback program authorized for up to $100 billion, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 225,774 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,836 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 0.6% of CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $50,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 3.9% in the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,992,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Apple Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Apple stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $230.76. 8,640,402 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 57,554,328. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock's fifty day moving average is $210.28 and its 200 day moving average is $212.94. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.