Zevin Asset Management LLC Purchases 10,552 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Zevin Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,388 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 10,552 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.8% of Zevin Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Zevin Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $39,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $288,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,972,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in Apple by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its position in Apple by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,723,104 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $876,483,000 after purchasing an additional 103,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $200.76. 8,638,989 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,075,115. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $204.36 and a 200 day moving average of $225.54. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

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.