Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Motiv8 Investments LLC

Motiv8 Investments LLC boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,156 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.4% of Motiv8 Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Motiv8 Investments LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Old North State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 99.2% in the third quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,050 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,309,000 after purchasing an additional 13,472 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 43,300 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $10,089,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 534,795 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $124,607,000 after purchasing an additional 48,327 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,595 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,401,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, Cohen Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cohen Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,005 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,030,000 after buying an additional 1,476 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $198.53. The company had a trading volume of 36,406,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,044,007. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $208.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.64. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

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

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.