Wallace Hart LLC Buys 525 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Wallace Hart LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,691 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 0.5% of Wallace Hart LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Wallace Hart LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $206.86 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $205.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price 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. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays cut their target price on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.