Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Raised by Parthenon LLC

Parthenon LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 132,329 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 5,936 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 4.0% of Parthenon LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Parthenon LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $33,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in shares of Apple by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $787,631,000 after acquiring an additional 588,427 shares during the period. Latitude Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. New World Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 10.9% during the third quarter. New World Advisors LLC now owns 25,647 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,976,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 9.7% in the third quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC now owns 41,466 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $9,662,000 after purchasing an additional 3,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pointe Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 15,923 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,710,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Apple stock traded up $0.86 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $210.14. The stock had a trading volume of 38,624,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,740,739. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.11 and a 1 year high of $260.10. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $215.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $229.31.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple's payout ratio is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.31.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.