Plancorp LLC Purchases 3,128 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Plancorp LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,325 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 3,128 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.2% of Plancorp LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Plancorp LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $28,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $7,116,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in Apple by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,432,637 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $358,761,000 after purchasing an additional 446,730 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $18,891,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. now owns 4,564 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,142,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,220,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $1.48 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $204.75. The stock had a trading volume of 10,857,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,960,202. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

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.