Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Park Place Capital Corp

Key Points

• Park Place Capital Corp has reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 15.6%, now holding 22,915 shares valued at approximately $5.09 million, making it the 17th largest position in its portfolio.
• Several large investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Norges Bank, have increased their stakes in Apple, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Apple reported $94.04 billion in revenue for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and reflecting a 9.6% increase compared to the previous year.

Park Place Capital Corp cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 15.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,915 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,220 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.4% of Park Place Capital Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Park Place Capital Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $5,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.60.

Apple Trading Up 1.1%

AAPL traded up $2.56 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $229.74. 41,781,765 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 57,888,410. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $207.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.10. 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 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board 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.