Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Sims Investment Management LLC

Sims Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 185.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,293 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 0.3% of Sims Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Sims Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $732,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.6% in the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 4.6% during the 4th 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 during the period. TruWealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,045,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $113,062,000 after acquiring an additional 438,471 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.60.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $229.35 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $206.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.78%.

Apple 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.