Cullen Investment Group LTD. Has $38.84 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 230,026 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,878 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 6.1% of Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Apple were worth $38,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,605,195,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,576 shares in the last quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 240,201 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $41,125,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE grew its stake in shares of Apple by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE now owns 1,890 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Financial Network Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Network Wealth Management LLC now owns 78,679 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TKG Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 135.7% in the 3rd quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 3,757 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $643,000 after acquiring an additional 2,163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Apple Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $214.29 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $220.20. The company has a market cap of $3.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.33, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $186.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.06.

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.