Hoxton Planning & Management LLC Purchases 1,932 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Hoxton Planning & Management LLC grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,561 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,932 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.2% of Hoxton Planning & Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% in 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. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew 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 valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. grew 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 valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Melius Research lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL 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 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.31. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.