Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Boosts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 61,357 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,676 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $211.45 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.56, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $206.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.84.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.