Castleark Management LLC Has $169.64 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Castleark Management LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 677,429 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 97,730 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 5.9% of Castleark Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $169,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp grew its position in Apple by 3,368.2% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Apple by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $192,700,000 after purchasing an additional 83,997 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Bank grew its position in Apple by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,433,000 after purchasing an additional 2,360 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $195.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $202.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.47. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company 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. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 target price (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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.