Rebalance LLC Grows Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Rebalance LLC boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,179 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 256 shares during the quarter. Rebalance LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the 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 $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $211.26 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $206.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.67.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.