Ballentine Partners LLC Raises Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 323,767 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 12,623 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.1% of Ballentine Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $55,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Apple by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,677,190,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,360 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

AAPL stock opened at $214.10 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $220.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.14.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price 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 issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. 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.