Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Albion Financial Group UT’s 4th Largest Position

Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 347,283 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,558 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 5.5% of Albion Financial Group UT’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Apple were worth $66,862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Headinvest LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after acquiring an additional 10,425 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS lifted its position in Apple by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $829,240,000 after acquiring an additional 279,311 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its position in Apple by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 673,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $115,284,000 after acquiring an additional 24,634 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $183.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.67. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.93%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.