Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Increased by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.0% of Proficio Capital Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Apple worth $5,272,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Barclays dropped their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus raised Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $198.53. The company had a trading volume of 36,406,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,044,007. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $208.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.64. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. 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 firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company'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 owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.