Xponance Inc. Buys 8,781 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,604,254 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 8,781 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 7.7% of Xponance Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Xponance Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $800,613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson increased its holdings in Apple by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $158,067,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.37.

Apple Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $232.56 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $215.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.29, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

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.

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