Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Boosted by FNY Investment Advisers LLC

FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 124.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,400 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,330 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 13.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $212.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.10, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $204.57 and a 200 day moving average of $215.41.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. 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. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.