Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Boosted by Davis R M Inc.

Davis R M Inc. raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,123,548 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,389 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 5.5% of Davis R M Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $281,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 419,435 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $97,726,000 after acquiring an additional 15,413 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 356,886 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $83,154,000 after acquiring an additional 87,839 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Financial LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 62,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,563,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its stake in Apple by 23.9% during the third quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 499,426 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $116,265,000 after acquiring an additional 96,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 34,486,195 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,035,283,000 after acquiring an additional 432,140 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $208.78 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $226.57. The company 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm 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 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 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.