Griffith & Werner Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 24,585 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $6,157,000. Apple makes up 4.1% of Griffith & Werner Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp increased its position in Apple by 3,368.2% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Apple by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $192,700,000 after buying an additional 83,997 shares during the period. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Finally, Berkshire Bank raised its holdings in Apple by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $22,433,000 after buying an additional 2,360 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Barclays decreased their price target on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.
Read Our Latest Research Report on AAPL
Apple Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $4.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $201.00. The company had a trading volume of 95,792,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,505,078. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.00. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company'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 in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Apple Profile
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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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