Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Prescott Group Capital Management recently acquired 1,227 shares of Apple Inc., worth approximately $273,000, as part of a trend where institutional investors currently own 67.73% of the stock.
• Analysts have adjusted their price targets for Apple, with Barclays raising it to $180.00 and UBS elevating it to $220.00, while the consensus target stands at $239.05.
• Apple announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26, representing an annual yield of 0.4%, and reported a revenue increase of 9.6% year-over-year during its last fiscal quarter.

Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,227 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Salus Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,794,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Sharpepoint LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Financial Network Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,184,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $239.69. 54,829,143 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 47,688,568. The business's 50 day moving average is $219.28 and its 200-day moving average is $212.86. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.05.

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.