Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is MONECO Advisors LLC’s Largest Position

MONECO Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 102,705 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,849 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.8% of MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Apple by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Apple by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,360 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $216.67 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $184.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $220.20.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders 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 was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. 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 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $207.47.

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.