Donaldson Capital Management LLC Acquires 8,278 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 550,887 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 8,278 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.9% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $94,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the 4th 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 Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its stake in Apple by 657.1% in 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 buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $169.30. 44,717,137 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,363,952. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $173.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.79. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $2.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 14.95%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Redburn Partners lowered Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.05.

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.