Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. Buys 5,336 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 191.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,121 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,336 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.4% of Braun Bostich & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Braun Bostich & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,430,190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,815,594,000 after purchasing an additional 5,331,439 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $487,435,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Apple by 6.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,709 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $182.74 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.78. The company has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04.

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, topping 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 was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.11.

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.