Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Has $71.78 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 418,593 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,057 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.3% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Apple were worth $71,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.71.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $221.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50 day moving average is $195.26 and its 200 day moving average is $185.85. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $221.55.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued 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 yield of 0.45%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple 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.