Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Little House Capital LLC

Little House Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,154 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 4,093 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 6.5% of Little House Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Little House Capital LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $17,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. 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 in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 70.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $111,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL traded up $0.96 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $192.25. 75,117,803 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 60,619,703. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.26. The business's 50-day moving average price is $177.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.28. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are 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 dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 271,270 shares of company stock worth $46,511,696 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Maxim Group initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty 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 an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.59.

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.