HTLF Bank Purchases New Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

HTLF Bank purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 116,831 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $22,493,000. Apple makes up 2.7% of HTLF Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Headinvest LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after buying an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in Apple by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $829,240,000 after buying an additional 279,311 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,158,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 808,709 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $155,701,000 after buying an additional 112,980 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.0 %

Apple stock opened at $189.87 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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. 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 analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related 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 in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related 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 in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was 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 owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 371,270 shares of company stock valued at $64,605,696. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Maxim Group began coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.71.

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.