Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Cidel Asset Management Inc.

Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 31,803 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,877 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in Apple by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $456,728,000 after acquiring an additional 435,891 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Markel Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $210,752,000 after purchasing an additional 8,450 shares during the period. Camden Capital LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,305,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,629,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. 58.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total transaction of $2,753,216.64. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,363,619.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 4th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Apple from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Apple from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.86.

Apple Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $187.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.98. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.17 and a 1 year high of $198.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $186.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.97.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Apple had a net margin of 24.68% and a return on equity of 164.92%. The firm had revenue of $81.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. Apple’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 11th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.13%.

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.