Parker Investment Management LLC Buys 157 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Parker Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,006 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 0.4% of Parker Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Parker Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 target price (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank cut Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 1.2%

AAPL opened at $208.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $205.93 and its 200 day moving average is $226.57. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business 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 business earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.