Transcendent Capital Group LLC Has $11.46 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Transcendent Capital Group LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,768 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,545 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 6.0% of Transcendent Capital Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Transcendent Capital Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $11,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWS Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 65,436 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,387,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Pring Turner Capital Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Pring Turner Capital Group Inc. now owns 11,169 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,797,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Prasad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,287,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $12,613,000. Finally, Portland Financial Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $406,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of AAPL traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $198.59. The stock had a trading volume of 5,559,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,944,035. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $210.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $228.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Maxim Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush downgraded Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Corporate 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.