Qtron Investments LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 156,098 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,257 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.3% of Qtron Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Qtron Investments LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Cassia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $651,000 after acquiring an additional 979 shares during the last quarter. Starfox Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Starfox Financial Services LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $3,148,000. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 2,340,129 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $304,053,000 after purchasing an additional 115,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $563,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, May 22nd. Atlantic Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Apple from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.11.
Apple Trading Up 1.6 %
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.84 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The company’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.30%.
Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling at Apple
In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,253,004.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $708,979.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,881,483.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at $78,253,004.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
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.
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