Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC Purchases New Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 4,494 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,125,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 111,858 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $28,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 119,262 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $29,866,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the period. Envision Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $512,000. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 46,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $11,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 250,656 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $59,368,000 after buying an additional 21,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Barclays cut their target price on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL traded up $4.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $201.00. The stock had a trading volume of 95,792,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,610,148. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $202.35 and a 200-day moving average of $221.41.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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.