Balanced Rock Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 98 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Balanced Rock Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,149 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Balanced Rock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. now owns 1,178,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $295,106,000 after purchasing an additional 26,202 shares in the last quarter. Alexis Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,010,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 38.2% during the fourth quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 28,530 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,145,000 after purchasing an additional 7,887 shares in the last quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Arrow Capital Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,756,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $196.45 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $201.76 and a 200-day moving average of $223.10. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. 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 quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Maxim Group increased 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. China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.86.

About Apple

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.