Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Atwater Malick LLC

Atwater Malick LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 107,551 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Apple makes up 8.1% of Atwater Malick LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Atwater Malick LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $213.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.14. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. UBS Group set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays set a $173.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.95.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.