AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 67,402 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $16,879,000. Apple makes up about 3.3% of AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Apple
In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Apple Stock Performance
Shares of AAPL stock traded up $3.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $203.92. The stock had a trading volume of 46,477,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,154,463. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $224.15. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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 stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital cut their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.02.
Read Our Latest Analysis on AAPL
About Apple
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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.
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