Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is NEOS Investment Management LLC's Largest Position

NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 30.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,201,625 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 281,965 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 7.1% of NEOS Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest position. NEOS Investment Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $300,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Citigroup reiterated a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.02.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded up $3.29 on Friday, reaching $203.92. The company had a trading volume of 46,477,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,154,463. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year 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's fifty day moving average is $201.17 and its 200 day moving average is $224.15. The company has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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.