Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Kendall Capital Management

Kendall Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,318 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 755 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 1.5% of Kendall Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Kendall Capital Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,709 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Apple by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,605,195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,519,918 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,020,609,000 after buying an additional 287,329 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.11.

Apple Stock Up 6.0 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $183.38 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $172.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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 business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 153.25%. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.93%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.