HM Payson & Co. Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

HM Payson & Co. boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,782,169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,874 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 6.9% of HM Payson & Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $395,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, 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, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.98.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value 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. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $227.76 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $212.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.09. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS 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 company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally 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.