Bensler LLC Acquires 3,241 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bensler LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,514 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,241 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.9% of Bensler LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Bensler LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $30,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $210.16 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.74, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $204.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $216.41. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week 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.

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 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 company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 0.49%. This is an increase 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 presently 16.20%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.27.

Apple Company 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.