Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Buys New Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 21,902 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $5,485,000. Apple accounts for about 3.0% of Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,178,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,992,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.50 on Monday, reaching $201.50. 55,014,210 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,620,360. The firm has a market cap of $3.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $221.41. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.