Physicians Financial Services Inc. Reduces Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Physicians Financial Services Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,655 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 56 shares during the period. Apple makes up 15.5% of Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $40,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 70.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $132,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Maxim Group assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $182.40 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $199.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $172.17 and a 200 day moving average of $181.78. The firm has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.37, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.