Riverbend Wealth Management LLC Takes $5.59 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Riverbend Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,318 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $5,594,000. Apple makes up about 5.0% of Riverbend Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

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

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Trading Down 2.3%

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $4.77 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $202.09. 59,113,086 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 55,963,045. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $205.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.43.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.