CORDA Investment Management LLC. Grows Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 239,799 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,231 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.5% of CORDA Investment Management LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. CORDA Investment Management LLC.’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MKT Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the second quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. now owns 3,925 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $537,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 3D L Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.9% in the first quarter. 3D L Capital Management LLC now owns 2,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Weik Capital Management increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the first quarter. Weik Capital Management now owns 25,238 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,407,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coyle Financial Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 26,125 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,572,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 57.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.2 %

AAPL stock opened at $171.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.29. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.25. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $176.39.

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 firm had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.84 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.30%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 4th that allows the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Fundamental Research set a $183.86 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,622 shares of the business’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 directly owns 136,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,569,202.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,622 shares of the business’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 directly owns 136,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,569,202.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total transaction of $9,261,412.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $541,766,188.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 439,529 shares of company stock worth $71,703,657. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Company 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.