Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Horizon Investments LLC

Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 55.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,671 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 33,757 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.7% of Horizon Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Horizon Investments LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $23,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $625,084,000. Second Half Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $3,199,000. West Family Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 16.7% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 45,722 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $10,653,000 after acquiring an additional 6,546 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.2% during the third quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 53,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $12,500,000 after acquiring an additional 1,653 shares during the period. Finally, Yardley Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $396,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $199.01. 70,744,759 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,229,633. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The business's 50 day moving average is $203.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $225.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Company 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.