IFG Advisors LLC Raises Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

IFG Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,229 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,178 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 3.2% of IFG Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. IFG Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $16,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the third 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 period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,411,260,000 after buying an additional 9,590,933 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction 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 approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 6.2%

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $12.26 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $210.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 63,644,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,124,497. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $208.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.33. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities 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 authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.