EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 9,962 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 213,909 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 9,962 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.4% of EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $53,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $202.09 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $205.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.26. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple Profile

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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