Ipsen Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,357 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,592,000. Apple makes up approximately 1.4% of Ipsen Advisor Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.
Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $8,777,000. M.D. Sass LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 36.6% in the third quarter. M.D. Sass LLC now owns 17,900 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,171,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Carlson Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Apple by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 45,114 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $10,512,000 after purchasing an additional 7,662 shares during the last quarter. NCP Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 19,381 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,516,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 36.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 872,654 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $203,328,000 after acquiring an additional 235,333 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity
In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Apple Price Performance
Shares of AAPL stock traded up $3.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $203.92. 46,447,106 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,081,504. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. 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's 50-day moving average is $201.56 and its 200-day moving average is $224.35.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.
Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced 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 a boost 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 dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price target (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Four equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.02.
Read Our Latest Analysis on AAPL
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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