Arrow Capital Pty Ltd Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Arrow Capital Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,756,000. Apple comprises about 3.4% of Arrow Capital Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. O Connor Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Family Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its stake in shares of 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. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,992,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $196.45 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $201.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $223.10. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’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 value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.