Rheos Capital Works Inc. Raises Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Rheos Capital Works Inc. grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 105.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 208,200 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 107,000 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.7% of Rheos Capital Works Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Rheos Capital Works Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $35,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its stake in Apple by 118.0% during the 4th 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. grew its stake in 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 worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 107,788 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $3.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $210.62. The company had a trading volume of 82,481,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 65,234,191. 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 fifty day moving average of $192.13 and a 200-day moving average of $185.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business's revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. 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 was Friday, May 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $216.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Apple from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.71.

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.