Versor Investments LP Acquires New Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,384 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $597,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Crown Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 29,653 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $7,426,000 after buying an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 8,156 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,042,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306 shares during the last quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $148,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 1,095,665 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $274,376,000 after purchasing an additional 18,954 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Bank of America dropped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.80.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the 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 owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $198.53. 36,406,804 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,044,007. The company has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $227.64.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.