Osher Van de Voorde Investment Management Has $17.42 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Osher Van de Voorde Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,555 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,230 shares during the period. Apple makes up 4.1% of Osher Van de Voorde Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Osher Van de Voorde Investment Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the fourth 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. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the fourth 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. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the fourth 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 fourth quarter valued at about $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $207.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.27, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.25. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $187.87 and its 200 day moving average is $184.87. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. Apple’s revenue 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.38.

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.