Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Zions Bancorporation N.A.

Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 120,795 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,165 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.9% of Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Apple were worth $30,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.8%

AAPL stock opened at $203.27 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $202.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’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 owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday. Barclays decreased their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank cut Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.80.

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.