PAX Financial Group LLC Has $8.13 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

PAX Financial Group LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,463 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.5% of PAX Financial Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. PAX Financial Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $8,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Three 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded down $2.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $196.45. 51,345,532 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 54,742,937. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. 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's fifty day moving average price is $201.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.02. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 0.53%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

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

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.