Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is McBroom & Associates LLC’s 8th Largest Position

McBroom & Associates LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,375 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 695 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 4.9% of McBroom & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. McBroom & Associates LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Apple Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of AAPL opened at $211.18 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 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. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $204.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $215.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

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 given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. 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. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.