Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Mayport LLC

Key Points

• Mayport LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 5.2% during Q1, acquiring an additional 1,250 shares, bringing its total ownership to 25,442 shares valued at approximately $5.65 million.
• Analysts have given Apple a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy," with a target price of $234.94; recent updates include JPMorgan raising their price target to $250.00.
• Apple recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, reflecting an increase from its previous $0.25 dividend, alongside a $100 billion share buyback plan, indicating confidence in its stock value.

Mayport LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,442 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 1.6% of Mayport LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Mayport LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $5,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 25,612 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,689,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. XY Planning Network Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. XY Planning Network Inc. now owns 5,298 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc lifted its position in Apple by 4.0% in the first quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc now owns 25,944 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,763,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Apple by 6.7% in the first quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 290,786 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $64,592,000 after buying an additional 18,206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cottage Street Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 120.3% in the first quarter. Cottage Street Advisors LLC now owns 110,306 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $24,502,000 after buying an additional 60,233 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays set a $173.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the 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 sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $2.22 on Wednesday, reaching $209.05. 43,674,703 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 43,746,808. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average of $205.10 and a 200-day moving average of $214.16. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The company 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 167.24%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change 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 yield of 0.50%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.