Millstone Evans Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of 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 institutional investor bought 56,786 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $14,220,000. Apple comprises 9.7% of Millstone Evans Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $24,566,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $21,335,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,087 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded up $1.48 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $204.75. 10,857,378 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 55,960,202. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $224.69. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year 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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company 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 an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

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.