Stolper Co Has $10.83 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Stolper Co reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,128 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,761 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.9% of Stolper Co’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Stolper Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 14,395.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Apple by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,360 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $207.49 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $187.87 and a 200 day moving average of $184.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.25. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. 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 announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, 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 accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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. Insiders sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 over 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.