Byrne Asset Management LLC Purchases 875 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 33,302 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 875 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.0% of Byrne Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Byrne Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headinvest LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in Apple by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,461,000 after acquiring an additional 10,425 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in Apple by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $829,240,000 after purchasing an additional 279,311 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management increased its holdings in Apple by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 673,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $115,284,000 after purchasing an additional 24,634 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, 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. Insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $10.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $183.38. 163,224,109 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 59,692,680. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $172.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.00.

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.