34,312 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Bought by Shorepath Capital Management LLC

Shorepath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 34,312 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $6,606,000. Apple accounts for approximately 5.9% of Shorepath Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018,010 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after buying an additional 2,826,709 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,605,195,000 after buying an additional 1,696,576 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $207.47.

Apple Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of AAPL traded down $1.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $212.49. The stock had a trading volume of 70,122,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 64,600,812. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $183.77 and its 200 day moving average is $184.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

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.