Cadent Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 8,877 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cadent Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 25.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,457 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,877 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.0% of Cadent Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its holdings in 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 worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $208.14 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $188.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors 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 is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple 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 sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, 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 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $196.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.83.

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.