Heritage Wealth Advisors Raises Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Heritage Wealth Advisors grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 297,841 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,641 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.2% of Heritage Wealth Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Heritage Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $38,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position in Apple by 20.0% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $456,728,000 after buying an additional 435,891 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,016,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Markel Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $210,752,000 after buying an additional 8,450 shares during the period. Camden Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 9.2% during the first quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,305,000 after buying an additional 13,200 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,629,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at $78,253,004.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.92, for a total transaction of $32,984.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 177,657 shares in the company, valued at $29,299,192.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total transaction of $29,991,744.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,253,004.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $184.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Apple from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.74.

Apple Trading Up 0.7 %

AAPL opened at $172.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $2.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.40. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.17 and a fifty-two week high of $176.39.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.84 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 4th that allows the company to buyback $90.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.30%.

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.