Pollock Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $1.92 Million Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pollock Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,915,000. Apple accounts for approximately 1.6% of Pollock Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Raymond James decreased 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. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.47 during trading on Thursday, reaching $199.95. The stock had a trading volume of 51,367,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,221,859. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business's 50-day moving average price is $203.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.20. The company has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.74, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.