Prentice Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Prentice Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 84.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,450 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 9,802 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.6% of Prentice Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Prentice Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $5,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $21,335,435,000 after buying an additional 1,742,087 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $7.97 on Friday, hitting $205.35. The stock had a trading volume of 100,891,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,771,720. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $212.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $228.83. The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.25.

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.