Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Increased by Clean Yield Group

Clean Yield Group lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 84,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,129 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.7% of Clean Yield Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Clean Yield Group’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $1,890,884,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Apple by 53.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 30,235,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,178,590,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,342 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $221,753,959,000 after acquiring an additional 8,734,393 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Apple by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 71,060,708 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,407,910,000 after buying an additional 8,230,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1,636.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,638,067 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $44,884,000 after purchasing an additional 6,255,726 shares during the last quarter. 57.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 77,817 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.11, for a total value of $12,926,181.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,363,335.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 77,817 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.11, for a total transaction of $12,926,181.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,363,335.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at $78,253,004.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 435,437 shares of company stock valued at $70,994,677. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Up 4.7 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $173.57 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.93. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.17 and a fifty-two week high of $176.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.84 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.97% and a net margin of 24.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $90.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Apple from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Atlantic Securities upped their price target on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group set a $180.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Monday, April 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Sunday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $199.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.20.

About Apple

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.