SLT Holdings LLC Makes New $9.06 Million Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

SLT Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 36,187 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $9,062,000. Apple accounts for about 8.6% of SLT Holdings LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Argus upgraded Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $1.92 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $206.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 42,411,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,903,925. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $205.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.57. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is 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.