Impact Capital Partners LLC Takes $12.03 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Impact Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 48,039 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $12,030,000. Apple makes up about 4.3% of Impact Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 515,494 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $120,110,000 after purchasing an additional 9,628 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 205,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $47,806,000 after buying an additional 2,579 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Apple by 7.2% during the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 4,294 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,001,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. First Long Island Investors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 91.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 163,068 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $37,995,000 after purchasing an additional 77,914 shares during the period. Finally, Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 36,291 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,456,000 after purchasing an additional 8,045 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered 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. Bank of America cut their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $195.27 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $205.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 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.

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