Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Claris Advisors LLC MO

Claris Advisors LLC MO boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 45.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,545 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,948 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.2% of Claris Advisors LLC MO’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Claris Advisors LLC MO’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 419,435 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $97,726,000 after buying an additional 15,413 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 32.6% in the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 356,886 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $83,154,000 after purchasing an additional 87,839 shares during the period. Apollon Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 62,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,563,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 23.9% in the third quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 499,426 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $116,265,000 after purchasing an additional 96,362 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 34,486,195 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,035,283,000 after purchasing an additional 432,140 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

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

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.