Orin Green Financial LLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Orin Green Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,050 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.5% of Orin Green Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Orin Green Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% 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 ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $196.58 on Thursday. 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 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $202.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.