BCM Advisors LLC Has $1.67 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

BCM Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,871 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the quarter. BCM Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 70.2% in the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 27.7% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $111,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 371,270 shares of company stock valued at $64,605,696. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $189.87 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $174.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $182.67. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.26. 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 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.