Pacifica Partners Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pacifica Partners Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 60,437 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,042 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 5.6% of Pacifica Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Pacifica Partners Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $201.00 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.53. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.39.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company 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.