Goepper Burkhardt LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,749 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 4.1% of Goepper Burkhardt LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Goepper Burkhardt LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $10,162,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Apple by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 297,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $74,520,000 after buying an additional 32,884 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its stake in shares of Apple by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 1,723,822 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $431,680,000 after acquiring an additional 182,654 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in Apple by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 195,717 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $49,011,000 after acquiring an additional 21,727 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 55,840 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,990,000 after acquiring an additional 3,650 shares during the period. Finally, Partners in Financial Planning purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,634,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Apple Trading Up 0.2%
Shares of AAPL stock traded up $0.40 on Thursday, hitting $199.18. 43,675,646 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 55,560,287. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $200.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.60. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.
Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.
Insider Activity
In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Loop Capital reduced their target price 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. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Maxim Group increased their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays reduced their price target on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.86.
Check Out Our Latest Report on AAPL
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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