OV Management LLC Acquires 2,417 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

OV Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,689 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 2,417 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.8% of OV Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. OV Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $10,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $140,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $198.84. The stock had a trading volume of 14,546,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,449,083. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $200.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.60. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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.