Entrewealth LLC Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Entrewealth LLC acquired a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,744 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,438,000. Apple makes up approximately 1.3% of Entrewealth LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at about $625,084,000. Second Half Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,199,000. West Family Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 45,722 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $10,653,000 after purchasing an additional 6,546 shares during the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 53,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $12,500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yardley Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $396,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.94 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $199.01. The stock had a trading volume of 70,744,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,280,416. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business's fifty day moving average is $203.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $225.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 target price (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.

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.