74,436 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Acquired by Ring Mountain Capital LLC

Ring Mountain Capital LLC purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 74,436 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $18,640,000. Apple accounts for about 12.5% of Ring Mountain Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $288,000. Vestcor Inc increased its position in shares of Apple by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $87,501,000 after purchasing an additional 34,414 shares during the period. 5th Street Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares during the period. Simmons Bank increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $30,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,972,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $212.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.80, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $207.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $227.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. 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 0.49%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Raymond James lowered their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $170.62 target price (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value 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 $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.