Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA Acquires 1,360 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,967 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 9.1% of Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA's holdings in Apple were worth $12,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp raised its stake in Apple by 3,368.2% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $113,062,000 after buying an additional 438,471 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in Apple by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $192,700,000 after buying an additional 83,997 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,308,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Bank raised its stake in Apple by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $22,433,000 after buying an additional 2,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

Apple stock opened at $201.50 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $202.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $221.12. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 167.24%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Apple

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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