Seizert Capital Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Seizert Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 196,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 10,011 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.2% of Seizert Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Seizert Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $49,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $118,913,000. Holistic Planning LLC boosted its position in Apple by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Holistic Planning LLC now owns 15,052 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,507,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the period. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 5,561 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Provident Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 29,700 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,920,000 after buying an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Windward Capital Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in Apple by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Windward Capital Management Co. CA now owns 1,024,219 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $238,643,000 after buying an additional 48,284 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $212.33 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $206.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.99. 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 earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple 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.