Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by ESG Planning

ESG Planning increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.9% of ESG Planning’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. ESG Planning’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 33,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,879,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 344,943 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,058,000 after purchasing an additional 3,239 shares during the period. Bill Few Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 90,858 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $15,556,000 after buying an additional 1,502 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in Apple by 23.0% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 9,312 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after buying an additional 1,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its stake in Apple by 4.8% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 243,513 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $41,692,000 after buying an additional 11,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 371,270 shares of company stock valued at $64,605,696. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $196.00 price target (up from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.71.

Apple Trading Up 0.0 %

Apple stock opened at $189.87 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $199.62. 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 $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.53.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership 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 paid a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

About Apple

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.