Cravens & Co Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $508,000.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Robinson Value Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth about $28,000. St. James Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 98.3% during the fourth quarter. St. James Investment Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 75.4% during the third quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 21.7% during the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Align Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity
In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.92, for a total transaction of $32,984.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 177,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,299,192.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total transaction of $708,979.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,881,483.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.92, for a total transaction of $32,984.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 177,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,299,192.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Apple Trading Down 0.6 %
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last announced 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. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The company had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 4th that allows the company to buyback $90.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.30%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Apple from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. 51job reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. DA Davidson lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $193.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, June 5th. Finally, 58.com reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.40.
About Apple
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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