Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Dover Advisors LLC

Dover Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 45.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,540 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,403 shares during the period. Apple makes up 7.6% of Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. 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 purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the 4th 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. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the 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 approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’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 completion of 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. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $211.18 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.85. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

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

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.11.

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.