Hoey Investments Inc. Has $23.82 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Hoey Investments Inc. raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 22.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 95,108 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 17,186 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 4.0% of Hoey Investments Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Hoey Investments Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $23,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 target price (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company'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 transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $199.18. 43,675,646 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,560,287. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $200.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.60. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. 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 a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.