International Assets Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 462,950 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,133 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.3% of International Assets Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $79,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after buying an additional 1,643 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,406,000. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 132.8% in the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after acquiring an additional 18,615 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $196.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $216.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $213.25 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $189.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.94. The firm has a market cap of $3.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.16, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $220.20. 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 released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.