Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Heritage Investment Group Inc.

Heritage Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,433 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 0.8% of Heritage Investment Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Heritage Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $231.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.14, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was 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 directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.60.

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.