Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID Has $4.41 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,737 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its position in Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $213.25 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $189.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.94. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $220.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.29.

About Apple

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.