Round Rock Advisors LLC Buys 54,174 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Round Rock Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 118.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,031 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 54,174 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.8% of Round Rock Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Round Rock Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 26,797 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,588,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 101.9% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 700,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $120,086,000 after acquiring an additional 353,801 shares during the period. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 78,010 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,356,000 after purchasing an additional 5,870 shares during the last quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 2.1% during the third quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,492 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,193,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Finally, Nikulski Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the third quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 77,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,353,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $182.40 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $172.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.78. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Itau BBA Securities raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 price target (up from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.11.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.