Everstar Asset Management LLC Purchases 255 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Everstar Asset Management LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the quarter. Everstar Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $966,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 332,081 shares in the last quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.7% during the third quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 57,981 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,515 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 83.7% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 277,720 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $64,709,000 after purchasing an additional 126,522 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.8% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 128,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $29,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harmony Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 74,175 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $17,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $203.92 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $201.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $224.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “cautious” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.02.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’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. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 0.06% of the stock is currently 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.