PKS Advisory Services LLC Takes Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

PKS Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 58,668 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $14,692,000. Apple comprises 4.0% of PKS Advisory Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Barclays dropped their price target on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $203.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $224.69.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.