Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Raised by Main Street Research LLC

Main Street Research LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 283,567 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,397 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 9.0% of Main Street Research LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $36,844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $221,753,959,000 after buying an additional 8,734,393 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 80,739,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,097,970,000 after buying an additional 1,155,915 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Apple by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 71,060,708 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,407,910,000 after buying an additional 8,230,300 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,874,884 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,779,544,000 after acquiring an additional 698,686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 48,826,270 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,525,555,000 after acquiring an additional 424,839 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $174.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $2.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $165.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $150.87. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.17 and a 1-year high of $176.39.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results 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. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The firm had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 12th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.30%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 4th that allows the company to buyback $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Apple from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Apple from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.74.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total value of $9,261,412.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,766,188.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total transaction of $9,261,412.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,766,188.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total transaction of $708,979.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,881,483.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Profile

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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.