Novus Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Novus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 7,713 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,932,000. Apple accounts for about 1.9% of Novus Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth $77,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $96,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $140,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 12th. Argus upgraded Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $211.26. 53,614,750 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,997,127. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $206.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $226.66. 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 capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is 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.