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

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

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.86.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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.

Apple Stock Up 1.0%

AAPL stock traded up $1.97 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $198.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 42,873,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,696,017. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.66.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

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

Apple 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.