Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Lifted by Syon Capital LLC

Syon Capital LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 28.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 134,977 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 29,956 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.3% of Syon Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $25,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $85,000. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its position in Apple by 100.6% during the fourth quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 483 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 83,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $111,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $1.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $212.49. 70,122,748 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 64,600,812. The company has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $220.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Maxim Group started coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $207.47.

Insider Transactions 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 transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. Corporate 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.