Partners in Financial Planning Takes $1.63 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Partners in Financial Planning purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,527 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,634,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Cowen cut their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $199.18. 43,675,646 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 55,560,287. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $200.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.60. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, 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.