Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Increased by NBC Securities Inc.

NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 97,579.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 135,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 135,636 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 2.6% of NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $30,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.39.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of AAPL traded up $4.09 on Monday, reaching $205.17. The stock had a trading volume of 91,511,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,513,950. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.83.

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

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 paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

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

Apple 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.