Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,139 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 2.0% of Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $787,631,000 after purchasing an additional 588,427 shares during the period. Latitude Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,016,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 232,665 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $54,211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Solidarity Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Solidarity Wealth LLC now owns 164,452 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $38,317,000 after purchasing an additional 9,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boyd Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boyd Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,459 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $213.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $212.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $228.83. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of 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. Insiders sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.63.

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.