Custom Index Systems LLC Purchases Shares of 44,109 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Custom Index Systems LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 44,109 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $8,492,000. Apple comprises about 5.2% of Custom Index Systems LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after acquiring an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $487,435,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018,010 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $181.71 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $172.18 and a 200-day moving average of $181.72. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Itau BBA Securities upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.11.

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.