Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd.

CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,217 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 0.9% of CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Robinson Value Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its position in Apple by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP increased its position in Apple by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Align Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its position in Apple by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 57.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Apple in a research note on Sunday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $199.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Apple from $173.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Apple from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $125.00 price objective on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.74.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $171.56 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.17 and a 12 month high of $176.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $165.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.11. The company has a market cap of $2.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.13, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. The company had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.30%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at $78,253,004.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total transaction of $708,979.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,483.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 quarter, insiders sold 439,529 shares of company stock worth $71,703,657. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company 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.