Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by NewSquare Capital LLC

NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,192 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 6,301 shares during the quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $11,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price target on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.88 on Thursday, hitting $211.45. 43,910,127 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,930,688. 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's 50-day moving average price is $206.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.99. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple announced that its board has authorized 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 an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company'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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Company 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.