PFG Investments LLC Has $115.36 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

PFG Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 12.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 519,323 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 73,063 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 7.4% of PFG Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. PFG Investments LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $115,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Apple by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Tigress Financial upped 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 2.2%

AAPL stock traded down $4.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $202.95. The stock had a trading volume of 46,370,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,587,043. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $205.22 and a 200 day moving average of $213.98. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's management 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.