Highland Capital Management LLC Has $87.90 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 395,708 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 4,907 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 5.3% of Highland Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $87,899,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Vista Investment Partners II LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 20,970 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,658,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. now owns 165,971 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $36,867,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 240,061 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $53,325,000 after buying an additional 2,190 shares during the last quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 49,655 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $11,030,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 18.3% in the 1st quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 70,906 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $15,750,000 after buying an additional 10,982 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $232.91. 37,584,287 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 57,933,523. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $208.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $213.35. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.