Dearborn Partners LLC Purchases 9,392 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Dearborn Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 766,306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,392 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 5.4% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $147,537,000 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 AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 70.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $132,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. Itau BBA Securities upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.72.

Apple Stock Up 6.0 %

Apple stock opened at $183.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Profile

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.