Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd Makes New $2.44 Million Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 9,741 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,439,000. Apple makes up approximately 2.1% of Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 25,285.2% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,411,260,000 after buying an additional 9,590,933 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $2.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $196.45. 51,345,532 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 54,742,937. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $201.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business 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%. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

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.