Define Financial LLC Boosts Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Define Financial LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 278.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,502 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.6% of Define Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Define Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. UBS Group set a $210.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.27.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $208.62 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 0.50%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.