Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s Largest Position

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 107,988 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,563 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 5.7% of Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 14,395.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Apple by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,709 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 1,696,576 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,519,918 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,020,609,000 after acquiring an additional 287,329 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $182.40 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.37, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $172.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.78.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share 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 reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Maxim Group began coverage on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.11.

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.