Synergy Investment Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,035 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,511,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $140,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup reiterated a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock traded down $0.60 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $212.33. 49,235,970 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,032,102. The company has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $207.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. 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 authorized a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.