Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Raised by Leeward Financial Partners LLC

Leeward Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,649 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the period. Apple makes up 4.1% of Leeward Financial Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Leeward Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.2%

AAPL opened at $199.20 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $201.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $223.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.86.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Company Profile

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.