Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Boosted by Round Rock Advisors LLC

Round Rock Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 118.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 100,031 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 54,174 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.8% of Round Rock Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Round Rock Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% in the 4th 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 increased its position in Apple by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after buying an additional 2,826,709 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position 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 buying an additional 1,696,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,519,918 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,020,609,000 after acquiring an additional 287,329 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $182.40 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.78. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results 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. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.11.

Apple Company 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.