Northeast Planning Associates INC. NH Takes Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Northeast Planning Associates INC. NH acquired a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,688 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $673,000. Apple makes up 0.7% of Northeast Planning Associates INC. NH's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its position in Apple by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,992,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded down $1.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $200.30. The stock had a trading volume of 53,951,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,512,318. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $202.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $221.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.