Howard Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 455,685 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,832 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 1.4% of Howard Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $114,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.63.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $213.32 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $212.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $228.83. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Apple Company 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.