Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 455,685 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 31,832 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.4% of Howard Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Howard Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $114,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 25,285.2% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,411,260,000 after acquiring an additional 9,590,933 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of AAPL traded down $7.97 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $205.35. 100,891,435 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,192,627. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.60, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $212.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $228.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Apple's payout ratio is 15.87%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 target price (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wedbush downgraded Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.