Park Square Financial Group LLC Acquires New Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 28,541 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $7,147,000. Apple makes up approximately 4.9% of Park Square Financial Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $4.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $201.00. The company had a trading volume of 95,792,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,610,148. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $202.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $221.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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 was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has approved 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 buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Company 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.