Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 816,103 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,167 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.9% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $204,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $196.45 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $201.76 and a 200-day moving average of $222.93.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.