Buckingham Capital Management Inc. Acquires 6,454 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 186,336 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,454 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.9% of Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $208.14 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.85.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush increased their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, 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 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.