Affinity Capital Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Affinity Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 165,160 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,645 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 7.2% of Affinity Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $36,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.11.

Apple Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of AAPL opened at $211.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $204.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $215.85.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.