Sharkey Howes & Javer Grows Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sharkey Howes & Javer grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,467 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 399 shares during the quarter. Sharkey Howes & Javer’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $198.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $208.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $227.36.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reissued a “cautious” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 5th. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.80.

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.