Bulldog Investors LLP Takes $269,000 Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bulldog Investors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,169,675 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,294,590,000 after purchasing an additional 235,670 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $109,975,000. Chapman Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $6,928,000. Brown Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Brown Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,443 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,114,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,557,076 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,393,283,000 after buying an additional 114,637 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% 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 ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $196.45 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.93.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often 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. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid 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 presently 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target 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. Three equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.86.

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.