Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Wahed Invest LLC’s Largest Position

Wahed Invest LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 251,119 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,498 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 12.5% of Wahed Invest LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Wahed Invest LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $48,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $38,406,000. 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 buying an additional 18,615 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in Apple by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after buying an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $216.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $184.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.19. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 sale, the director now 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 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Maxim Group began coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given 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 $207.47.

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.