Arrien Investments Inc. Buys New Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Arrien Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,303 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $785,000. Apple comprises approximately 0.6% of Arrien Investments Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Four 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $199.01. 70,744,759 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,229,633. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $203.10 and a 200-day moving average of $225.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.