Aspire Capital Advisors LLC Grows Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Aspire Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,036 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 1.6% of Aspire Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Flagstone Financial Management raised its stake in Apple by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Asset Planning Corporation raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 completion of 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 SEC, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. 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. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.11.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $182.74 on Thursday. 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 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $199.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $172.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.78. The company has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

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.