Prosperity Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,106 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,116,000. Apple makes up approximately 0.9% of Prosperity Advisers LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Overbrook Management Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $28,449,000 after purchasing an additional 38,174 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 397,834 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $101,301,000 after purchasing an additional 8,446 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in Apple by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $363,256,000 after purchasing an additional 465,393 shares during the last quarter. Tufton Capital Management lifted its stake in Apple by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,496,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in Apple by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 734,485 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $187,022,000 after purchasing an additional 27,445 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity at Apple
In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 96,485 shares of company stock valued at $24,594,845 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Apple Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $280.19 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $260.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $265.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.25 and a 1 year high of $288.62.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 161.46%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Apple's payout ratio is 13.15%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $304.31.
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About Apple
(
Free Report)
Apple Inc NASDAQ: AAPL is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple's principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.
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