Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by HBK Sorce Advisory LLC

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 333,771 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,493 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.5% of HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $83,583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 540,710 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $125,985,000 after buying an additional 22,955 shares during the period. Lummis Asset Management LP grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 41,518 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,674,000 after buying an additional 2,447 shares during the period. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC now owns 72,547 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,904,000 after buying an additional 1,734 shares during the period. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 279.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,429 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,129,000 after buying an additional 9,893 shares during the period. Finally, Palo Alto Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 72.4% during the 3rd quarter. Palo Alto Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 34,136 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,072,000 after buying an additional 14,337 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $201.36 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $205.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.