Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Birch Capital Management LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Birch Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,025 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Apple comprises 6.4% of Birch Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,406,000. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 132.8% in the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Maxim Group raised their price target on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.29.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $214.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $190.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.14. 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 $3.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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.