Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lifted by Twin City Private Wealth LLC

Twin City Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 96.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,974 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the quarter. Twin City Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $201.70 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates 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 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase 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 is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.