Weaver Capital Management LLC Has $6.48 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 42.2% in the first quarter, owning 29,174 shares valued at approximately $6.48 million.
• Apple has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, an increase from the previous $0.25, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.04 and a yield of 0.49%.
• The company announced a $100 billion stock buyback plan, allowing it to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 42.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,174 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 8,659 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.7% of Weaver Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Weaver Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $6,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,992,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Investments LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.94.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $2.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $209.05. The company had a trading volume of 43,674,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,746,808. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $205.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $214.16. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

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.