Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Global Assets Advisory LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 23,076.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.1% of Global Assets Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Global Assets Advisory LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Apple worth $1,584,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the fourth 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. Gilfoyle & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its position 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 worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, 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 note on Friday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.71.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $210.62 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $192.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.46. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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 issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

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.