Diversified Enterprises LLC Increases Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Diversified Enterprises LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 65,986 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,777 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.6% of Diversified Enterprises LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Diversified Enterprises LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC now owns 20,320 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 776 shares during the period. Tower Bridge Advisors lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 237,376 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $55,309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA lifted its position in shares of Apple by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 66,396 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $15,470,000 after purchasing an additional 6,071 shares during the period. RiverPark Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 8.1% during the third quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 31,685 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,383,000 after acquiring an additional 2,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its position in Apple by 2.9% during the third quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,723,104 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $876,483,000 after acquiring an additional 103,856 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 target price (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital decreased their target price 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. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 3.0%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $195.27 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $205.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.94. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

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.