Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Haverford Financial Services Inc.’s Largest Position

Haverford Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 102,597 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 7.8% of Haverford Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Haverford Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $25,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $199.01 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.00. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America cut their price objective 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple 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.