Platinum Investment Management Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Platinum Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,500 shares during the quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Apple were worth $4,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth about $4,972,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its position in Apple by 6.3% in the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Bank boosted its position in Apple by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $22,433,000 after purchasing an additional 2,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in Apple by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 558,254 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $139,798,000 after purchasing an additional 28,404 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.94 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $199.01. 70,744,759 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,229,633. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company's 50 day moving average price is $203.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.00.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Raymond James dropped their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.