International Assets Investment Management LLC Grows Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 462,950 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 10,133 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.3% of International Assets Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $79,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% during 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 in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $85,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Tigress Financial lifted 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. DZ Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $216.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.29.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 54,732 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 54,732 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of 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 ninety days, insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $214.10. 49,722,868 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 65,093,543. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $190.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.14. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $220.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share 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 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple's payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple 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.