New England Professional Planning Group Inc. Acquires 960 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

New England Professional Planning Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 24.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,944 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 0.4% of New England Professional Planning Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. New England Professional Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 14,395.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Apple by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $216.75 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $192.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.31.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $196.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

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.