Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Invests $5.49 Million in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 21,902 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $5,485,000. Apple accounts for about 3.0% of Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $201.00 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $202.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.71. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.