Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 685,783 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 20,913 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.6% of Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $152,333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Barclays set a $173.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.11.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $211.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 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 quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.61.

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

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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.