Pacific Global Investment Management Co. Reduces Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pacific Global Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 93.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,359 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 179,331 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 4.3% of Pacific Global Investment Management Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Pacific Global Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Apple were worth $3,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. M&G PLC lifted its position in Apple by 42.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 292,852 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $68,235,000 after buying an additional 87,242 shares in the last quarter. Prudent Investors Network Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the third quarter. Prudent Investors Network Inc. now owns 8,774 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,044,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Architects LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 7.1% during the third quarter. Wealth Architects LLC now owns 182,203 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,453,000 after acquiring an additional 12,052 shares in the last quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,721,000. Finally, Baugh & Associates LLC grew its stake in Apple by 2.7% in the third quarter. Baugh & Associates LLC now owns 70,363 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $15,829,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $12.26 during trading on Monday, hitting $210.79. 63,644,481 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,124,810. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $208.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $227.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.