Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s Largest Position

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 930,782 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,865 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 12.1% of HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $216,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 76,662 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,198,000 after acquiring an additional 16,105 shares during the last quarter. Riggs Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,780,000. Rodgers Brothers Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 40,623 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,173,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory raised its stake in shares of Apple by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 42,584 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,664,000 after buying an additional 6,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Colrain Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,489,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of AAPL opened at $201.45 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $200.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.92. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results 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 business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. KeyCorp raised Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays cut their target price on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.02.

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.