Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Increased by Check Capital Management Inc. CA

Check Capital Management Inc. CA boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,580 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 673 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 0.2% of Check Capital Management Inc. CA’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Check Capital Management Inc. CA’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Robinson Value Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 75.4% in 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 period. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 21.7% in the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Align Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Fundamental Research set a $183.86 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Apple from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple from $174.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.74.

Apple Trading Down 1.5 %

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

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. The business had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current 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 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $78,253,004.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total transaction of $29,991,744.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.92, for a total transaction of $32,984.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 177,657 shares in the company, valued at $29,299,192.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Company Profile

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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.