Cornerstone Retirement Group Inc. Makes New $364,000 Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cornerstone Retirement Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,800 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $364,000. Apple makes up about 0.1% of Cornerstone Retirement Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Robinson Value Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its stake in Apple by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Align Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group set a $180.00 price objective on Apple in a research note on Monday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Cowen lowered their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.29.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $172.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $163.43 and its 200 day moving average is $150.10. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.17 and a 1 year high of $176.15.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.84 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.30%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 4th that permits the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at $78,253,004.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at $78,253,004.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $7,215,515.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,444 shares in the company, valued at $22,569,202.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 439,529 shares of company stock worth $71,703,657 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.