Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP’s 4th Largest Position

American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,612 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 3.7% of American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $211.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $215.85. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its 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 return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by 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.