Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 189,840 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 12,784 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.4% of Confluence Wealth Services Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $38,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Apple Stock Down 0.1%
AAPL traded down $0.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $232.51. The stock had a trading volume of 9,831,648 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,708,387. The stock's 50 day moving average is $209.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
Apple Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.60.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Apple
Apple Profile
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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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