Tilson Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Tilson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,610 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $989,000. Apple makes up about 0.8% of Tilson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Robinson Value Management Ltd. bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Align Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Fundamental Research set a $183.86 price target on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.74.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $174.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.87. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $176.39.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.84 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th were given a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.30%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 4th that allows the company to buyback $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,253,004.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,253,004.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total transaction of $708,979.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,881,483.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.