HTG Investment Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

HTG Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,721 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,283 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.0% of HTG Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. HTG Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 70.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $132,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Loop Capital dropped 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, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $196.00 target price (up from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a report 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.11.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $182.40 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $172.17 and its 200 day moving average is $181.78. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $199.62.

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

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 $0.25 dividend. 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 positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were 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 accessible through this link. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.