Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Boosted by Congress Asset Management Co. MA

Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,416,638 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,321 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.7% of Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings in Apple were worth $242,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. lifted its position in Apple by 14.9% during the third quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 609,759 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $104,397,000 after buying an additional 79,153 shares in the last quarter. Running Point Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Running Point Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,309 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,135,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1.6% during the third quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,784 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,702,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 2.7% during the third quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 26,884 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,603,000 after buying an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NTV Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 149,158 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,537,000 after buying an additional 1,852 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.0 %

Apple stock opened at $213.25 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $220.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.16, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $189.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. 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 Saturday, May 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. 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 note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.29.

Apple 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.