Puzo Michael J Has $20.99 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Puzo Michael J trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,541 shares during the period. Apple comprises 5.9% of Puzo Michael J's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Puzo Michael J's holdings in Apple were worth $20,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock traded down $2.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $196.45. 51,345,532 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 54,742,937. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The stock's 50-day moving average is $201.76 and its 200 day moving average is $222.93.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Company 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.