Evoke Wealth LLC Acquires 5,673 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Evoke Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 257,350 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 5,673 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.8% of Evoke Wealth LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Evoke Wealth LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $64,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded down $0.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $199.01. 70,744,759 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,229,633. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.00.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Maxim Group raised their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup restated a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.