Prostatis Group LLC boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 28.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,406 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 5,918 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.9% of Prostatis Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Prostatis Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $6,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Apple
Insider Activity
In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Apple Stock Up 0.2%
Apple stock opened at $201.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $202.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $221.12.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 16.20%.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
About Apple
(
Free Report)
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.
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