Croban Buys Shares of 4,815 Apple Inc. $AAPL

Croban bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,069,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.6% in the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,045,000 after buying an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $113,062,000 after buying an additional 438,471 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.37.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $232.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company's fifty day moving average price is $215.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $213.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.29, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

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.

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