Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 126,272 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,894 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.8% of Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $31,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at $288,000. Vestcor Inc lifted its stake in Apple by 10.1% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $87,501,000 after buying an additional 34,414 shares in the last quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank raised its holdings in Apple by 1.6% during the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $30,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,972,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America lowered their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Apple
Apple Stock Performance
Shares of AAPL opened at $197.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $208.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $227.64. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
Insider Activity at Apple
In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Apple Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also
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