Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda Buys 1,787 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 157.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,922 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,787 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda’s holdings in Apple were worth $563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.8% in the third quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 46,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,045,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. 1776 Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the third quarter. 1776 Wealth LLC now owns 125,861 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,549,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth about $164,163,000. Channing Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 17.6% in the third quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 14,776 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,530,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208 shares during the period. Finally, MRP Capital Investments LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 105.4% in the third quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 42,152 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,217,000 after purchasing an additional 21,633 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Maxim Group assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.1 %

AAPL opened at $214.29 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $220.20. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.33, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.36.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Company 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.