Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 75,436 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $18,891,000. Apple accounts for about 1.0% of Virtu Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. O Connor Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,178,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 price objective (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Trading Down 3.0%

Apple stock opened at $195.27 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $205.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.92. The company has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.