Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 214,187 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,362 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 0.5% of CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $36,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Melius Research lifted their price objective on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Itau BBA Securities raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $209.07 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $220.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.94. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.25. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Company 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.