Pring Turner Capital Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pring Turner Capital Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.9% of Pring Turner Capital Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Pring Turner Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $77,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 3.7 %

Apple stock opened at $205.35 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $212.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $228.61. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.