Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Position Lifted by Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management

Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 376,678 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 11,386 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.8% of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management's holdings in Apple were worth $83,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 1.4%

AAPL stock opened at $230.03 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.91, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $221.08 and a 200-day moving average of $212.48.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Melius Research set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $240.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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