Flputnam Investment Management Co. Grows Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 942,749 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 27,226 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.3% of Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Apple were worth $236,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $198.53. 36,406,804 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,093,894. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $208.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $227.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Citigroup reissued a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

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.