Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Acquired by Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC has increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 7.4%, now holding 28,950 shares valued at approximately $6.43 million.
• Apple declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, reflecting a 0.5% yield, and initiated a share buyback plan to repurchase up to $100 billion in shares.
• Recent analyst ratings show a consensus of a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $237.98, as several firms have upgraded their ratings on Apple stock.

Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,950 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 2,002 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.4% of Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $6,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Apple by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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 $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $2.50 on Thursday, reaching $232.99. 20,569,050 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,837,367. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.16. The company's 50 day moving average is $214.45 and its 200-day moving average is $213.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

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

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.37.

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.