Shearwater Capital LLC Acquires 956 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Shearwater Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 61.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 0.4% of Shearwater Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Shearwater Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,912,466,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at about $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 23,076.4% in the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,584,512,000 after acquiring an additional 9,200,345 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Apple by 158.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $226.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.22, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $220.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.02. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 145.35% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Cfra increased their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen upped their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. KeyCorp restated a “hold” rating and issued a $247.61 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company 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.