Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lifted by Parallel Advisors LLC

Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 854,070 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 10,484 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.8% of Parallel Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Parallel Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $213,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Family Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,178,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 12th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded down $1.01 on Thursday, reaching $199.41. 31,755,605 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,135,340. The firm's 50 day moving average is $204.01 and its 200-day moving average is $225.36. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

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 company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.