Petredis Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 2,386 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Petredis Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209,755 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 2,386 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 4.9% of Petredis Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $46,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its stake in Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,836,000 after buying an additional 2,647 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Wealth Network Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 21,617 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,413,000 after buying an additional 1,280 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays set a $173.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.27.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $1.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $211.16. 39,713,698 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,348,025. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $217.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.89, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research 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 initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

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.