Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 39.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,747 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 44,113 shares during the period. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C.'s holdings in Apple were worth $39,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. State Street Corp lifted its position in Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,411,260,000 after buying an additional 9,590,933 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Apple Trading Down 1.1%
Shares of Apple stock traded down $2.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $200.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 55,023,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,120,355. 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 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $201.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.54.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on AAPL
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About Apple
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Free Report)
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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