Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Atwood & Palmer Inc.

Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 128,916 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 929 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.7% of Atwood & Palmer Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Atwood & Palmer Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. DA Davidson raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.83.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $208.14 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $188.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.85. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $220.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.25.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. This is a positive change 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 (DPR) is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, 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 worth $60,880,196 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.