Hengehold Capital Management LLC Purchases 700 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,838 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. James Hambro & Partners LLP grew its position in Apple by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. James Hambro & Partners LLP now owns 4,704 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Apple by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 685,783 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $152,333,000 after purchasing an additional 20,913 shares during the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,365 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 98.9% during the 1st quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,586 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,794,000 after acquiring an additional 15,205 shares during the period. Finally, Newport Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Newport Capital Group LLC now owns 7,182 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Tigress Financial increased their price target 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. Barclays set a $173.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.11.

Apple Trading Up 0.6%

Apple stock 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. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 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 prior year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business 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. 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 a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

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.