TruNorth Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 47.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,451 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 4,621 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 47.0% of TruNorth Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. TruNorth Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $3,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James dropped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson restated a "sell" rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock traded down $4.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $194.21. 35,841,839 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,061,588. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.77, 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 quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $210.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $228.13.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.