Permanent Capital Management LP Buys 927 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Permanent Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,453 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the period. Apple makes up 0.6% of Permanent Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Permanent Capital Management LP’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,178,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,992,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Investments LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $213.36 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $203.35 and a 200 day moving average of $218.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays set a $173.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group set a $210.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $170.62 to $188.32 in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.95.

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.