Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. Invests $2.64 Million in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 10,540 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,639,000. Apple makes up approximately 1.4% of Vermillion Wealth Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $4.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $201.00. 95,792,149 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 54,505,078. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. 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 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company's 50-day moving average is $202.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $222.00.

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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