Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Lanham O Dell & Company Inc.’s 6th Largest Position

Lanham O Dell & Company Inc. decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,617 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 204 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 0.6% of Lanham O Dell & Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Lanham O Dell & Company Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&G PLC increased its holdings in Apple by 42.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 292,852 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $68,235,000 after purchasing an additional 87,242 shares during the last quarter. Prudent Investors Network Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the third quarter. Prudent Investors Network Inc. now owns 8,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,044,000 after buying an additional 1,096 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Architects LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 7.1% during the third quarter. Wealth Architects LLC now owns 182,203 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,453,000 after buying an additional 12,052 shares in the last quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $5,721,000. Finally, Baugh & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.7% in the third quarter. Baugh & Associates LLC now owns 70,363 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $15,829,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $198.53 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.33. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. 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. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.80.

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.