May Hill Capital LLC Purchases 3,179 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• May Hill Capital LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 18.6%, acquiring an additional 3,179 shares, which now represents 1.7% of their total holdings.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price of $237.98 for Apple, with a majority rating the stock as a "Moderate Buy."
• Apple's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $1.57, surpassing estimates and marking a 9.6% increase in revenue year-over-year.

May Hill Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 18.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,312 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 3,179 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.7% of May Hill Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. May Hill Capital LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $4,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 7.4% in the first quarter. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC now owns 28,950 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,431,000 after buying an additional 2,002 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisory grew its position in shares of Apple by 109.7% during the first quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 3,770 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $837,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the first quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 34,543 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $7,673,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the first quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,693 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $11,260,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Apple by 20.3% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 323,607 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $71,883,000 after purchasing an additional 54,713 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Apple stock traded up $2.50 on Thursday, reaching $232.99. The company had a trading volume of 20,569,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,837,367. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $214.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.05. 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 earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital cut their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.37.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently 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.