PrairieView Partners LLC Has $4.75 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

PrairieView Partners LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,687 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,140 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 0.6% of PrairieView Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. PrairieView Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. McBroom & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC now owns 36,369 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,227,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Essex LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Essex LLC now owns 32,403 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,548,000 after purchasing an additional 3,755 shares during the period. ETF Portfolio Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. ETF Portfolio Partners Inc. now owns 10,260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Shore Point Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Shore Point Advisors LLC now owns 6,375 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.3% during the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 396,182 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $67,830,000 after buying an additional 8,803 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Bank of America increased their price target on Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.00.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $183.38 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $199.62. The company has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.60.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 14.93%.

Apple announced that its board has approved 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 reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 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.