DLK Investment Management LLC Acquires 2,390 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

DLK Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 5.6% of DLK Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. DLK Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 2.9 %

Apple stock opened at $216.75 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 fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $220.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $192.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. 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. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.