Retirement Planning Group LLC NY Takes $2.36 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Retirement Planning Group LLC NY acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 9,412 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,357,000. Apple comprises about 2.6% of Retirement Planning Group LLC NY's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, 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 position. 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 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded up $0.94 during trading on Thursday, reaching $196.58. 45,342,877 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 54,338,522. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $202.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $222.30. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 for 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.