Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Raised by F&V Capital Management LLC

F&V Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 63.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,215 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 860 shares during the period. F&V Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $492,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple during 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 owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $209.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.45. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.57, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.27.

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.