Ascent Capital Management LLC Takes $7.07 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ascent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 28,246 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $7,073,000. Apple makes up 7.2% of Ascent Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America decreased their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 3.0%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $195.27 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $205.04 and its 200 day moving average is $225.94. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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 given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.