Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 67,132 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 7.4% of Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at $77,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $110,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

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

Apple Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $198.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $211.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $228.33. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Barclays lowered their target price on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.80.

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.