Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Gladstone Capital Management LLP's Largest Position

Gladstone Capital Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 190.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 713,037 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 467,434 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 14.9% of Gladstone Capital Management LLP's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Gladstone Capital Management LLP's holdings in Apple were worth $178,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $24,566,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,290,044 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,847,413,000 after purchasing an additional 674,991 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded down $2.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $196.45. The stock had a trading volume of 51,345,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,975,305. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. 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 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock's fifty day moving average is $201.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $223.37.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.