Disciplined Investors L.L.C. Invests $3.09 Million in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Disciplined Investors L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 13,171 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,087,000. Apple accounts for about 3.0% of Disciplined Investors L.L.C.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $24,566,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,156,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,290,044 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,847,413,000 after acquiring an additional 674,991 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.86.

Apple Stock Up 0.6%

Apple stock opened at $202.67 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $223.77.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a 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 dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $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 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is 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.