Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 33.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,463,971 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 365,309 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in Apple were worth $366,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 valued at $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,411,260,000 after acquiring an additional 9,590,933 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Apple Price Performance
Shares of AAPL stock traded up $12.26 on Monday, hitting $210.79. 63,644,481 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,124,810. 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 current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.46, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.33.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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 represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.
Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Maxim Group upped their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Argus raised Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.80.
Read Our Latest Report on AAPL
Insider Buying and Selling at Apple
In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About Apple
(
Free Report)
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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