Slagle Financial LLC Buys 42,228 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Slagle Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 95.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,334 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,228 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.0% of Slagle Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Slagle Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,622,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its stake in Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $212.49 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $220.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $183.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Maxim Group began coverage on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $207.47.

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.