10Elms LLP Purchases New Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

10Elms LLP purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $163,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.4%

Apple stock opened at $195.64 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $202.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $222.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.47, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 buy 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.