Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Hamilton Capital Partners LLC’s Largest Position

Hamilton Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 63.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,426 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,569 shares during the period. Apple makes up 10.8% of Hamilton Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Hamilton Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 28.3% during the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.94.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $213.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average of $204.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $214.77. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 generally a sign that the company’s leadership 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.