Warm Springs Advisors Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Warm Springs Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 33,718 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $8,444,000. Apple makes up approximately 7.8% of Warm Springs Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $196.58 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $202.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

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

Apple Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.