Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC Purchases New Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 35,987 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $9,012,000. Apple accounts for approximately 7.3% of Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the 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 directly owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.86.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $196.58 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

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

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 0.53%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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.