Viking Fund Management LLC Has $3.94 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Viking Fund Management LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 15.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 23,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,948,008 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $333,518,000 after purchasing an additional 186,290 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 287,952 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,300,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 4.5% during the third quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 23,267 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,983,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Truefg LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 5.4% during the third quarter. Truefg LLC now owns 5,728 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $981,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davidson Investment Advisors lifted its stake in Apple by 2.2% in the third quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 368,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $63,089,000 after acquiring an additional 7,788 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $221.55 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.85. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $221.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

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 $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.71.

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.