Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC Buys 7,887 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 38.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,530 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 7,887 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.7% of Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arista Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,203,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Arrow Capital Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,756,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in Apple by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 14,315,134 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,582,535,000 after acquiring an additional 607,687 shares in the last quarter. Ally Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,755,000. Finally, Tobias Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Tobias Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 21,384 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,355,000 after buying an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other 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 transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $196.45 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $201.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Tigress Financial raised 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. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Three 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.86.

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.