Moment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 17,890 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $4,480,000. Apple makes up approximately 0.9% of Moment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding.
A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $24,566,054,000 after buying an additional 3,156,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in 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 valued at $21,335,435,000 after buying an additional 1,742,087 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity at Apple
In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Apple Trading Up 1.6%
Shares of AAPL stock traded up $3.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $203.92. 46,477,335 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,154,463. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.15.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current 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 Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen dropped their price objective 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. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Maxim Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.02.
Read Our Latest Analysis on AAPL
About Apple
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Free Report)
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.
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