Yousif Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,880,365 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 4.8% of Yousif Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $417,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $1.25 on Friday, hitting $211.16. The company had a trading volume of 39,713,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,392,240. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The stock's 50-day moving average is $203.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.73.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during 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 business's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Barclays set a $173.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. 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 research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $210.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.27.

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.