Altiora Financial Group LLC Purchases 4,209 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Altiora Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 64.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,715 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,209 shares during the period. Altiora Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 87.1% during the fourth quarter. Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. now owns 24,194 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,059,000 after buying an additional 11,266 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 42,484 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,639,000 after buying an additional 3,575 shares during the last quarter. Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $1,690,000. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $7,912,000. Finally, Tassel Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $344,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $208.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $205.93 and its 200 day moving average is $226.57. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Maxim Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple 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.