Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Signaturefd LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 551,748 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 11,912 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.6% of Signaturefd LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $138,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,411,260,000 after purchasing an additional 9,590,933 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple 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 completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America dropped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 5th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $195.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $204.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.71. The stock 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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