Heck Capital Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 43,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $10,858,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Maxim Group lifted their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

Apple Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Apple stock traded up $4.42 on Friday, reaching $201.00. 95,792,149 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,610,148. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm's 50-day moving average is $202.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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.