Advisory Alpha LLC Raises Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 23.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,604 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 15,884 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $15,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Caliber Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.3% during the third quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,457 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,818,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,265,000. Udine Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.8% during the third quarter. Udine Wealth Management Inc. now owns 95,897 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $16,419,000 after purchasing an additional 4,362 shares during the last quarter. Fortress Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fortress Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,030 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,281,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthOne LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. WealthOne LLC now owns 101,538 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $17,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,647 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $169.30. The stock had a trading volume of 44,717,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 60,424,035. The firm's 50 day moving average is $173.04 and its 200 day moving average is $181.79. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $199.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 14.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $158.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.05.

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.