Alta Advisers Ltd Has $17.12 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Alta Advisers Ltd grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 52.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,080 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,630 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 7.3% of Alta Advisers Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Alta Advisers Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $147,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $231.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.14, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day moving average is $209.69 and its 200 day moving average is $213.14. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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 anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.