Pinney & Scofield Inc. Acquires New Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 21,556 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $5,398,000. Apple accounts for about 4.2% of Pinney & Scofield Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 109,053 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,309,000 after acquiring an additional 6,211 shares during the last quarter. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,528,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,633,655,000. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,460,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Apple by 67.5% in the fourth quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 21,297 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,333,000 after acquiring an additional 8,581 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $196.58 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.86.

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.