Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Bamco Inc. NY

Bamco Inc. NY boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 301,279 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the quarter. Bamco Inc. NY’s holdings in Apple were worth $75,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Castellan Group raised its holdings in Apple by 206.9% in the 3rd quarter. Castellan Group now owns 5,782 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 3,898 shares during the period. American Trust increased its position in shares of Apple by 7.1% in the third quarter. American Trust now owns 77,292 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $18,009,000 after buying an additional 5,118 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its position in shares of Apple by 6.0% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 37,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,773,000 after buying an additional 2,126 shares in the last quarter. Oriental Harbor Investment Fund acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,178,000. Finally, Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,685 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,558,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.4%

AAPL stock opened at $196.45 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $201.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.93. The firm has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a PE 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 repurchase 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 shares are undervalued.

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.