Shorepath Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Shorepath Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 32.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,394 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 11,082 shares during the period. Apple comprises 6.2% of Shorepath Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Shorepath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 11.8% during the fourth 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 during the period. Headinvest LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1.7% during the third 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 during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,406,000. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Apple by 132.8% in the fourth quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,283,000 after acquiring an additional 18,615 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $216.75 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $220.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.31. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.