Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lifted by Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,840 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,650 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 6.2% of Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 10,061,591 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,344,351,000 after purchasing an additional 332,081 shares during the period. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.7% in the third quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 57,981 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,510,000 after buying an additional 1,515 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 83.7% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 277,720 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $64,709,000 after buying an additional 126,522 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P grew its stake in Apple by 0.8% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 128,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,994,000 after buying an additional 1,068 shares during the period. Finally, Harmony Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1.6% during the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 74,175 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,283,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 price target (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.02.

Apple Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $203.92 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $224.12. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. 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 released 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 business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents 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 quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.