Ballentine Partners LLC Buys 12,623 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 323,767 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 12,623 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.1% of Ballentine Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $55,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its holdings 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 worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $85,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $214.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $190.27 and a 200 day moving average of $185.14.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. 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 is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.