Root Financial Partners LLC Has $5.42 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 85.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,158 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 12,936 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.0% of Root Financial Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Root Financial Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $5,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Headinvest LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Apple by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $14,461,000 after buying an additional 10,425 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its stake in Apple by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $829,240,000 after acquiring an additional 279,311 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management raised its holdings in Apple by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $7,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 808,709 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $155,701,000 after purchasing an additional 112,980 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, 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 value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $1.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $183.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 50,759,496 shares, compared to its average volume of 67,211,600. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $172.34 and a 200 day moving average of $181.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 14.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Itau BBA Securities upgraded Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $196.00 price objective (up from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.11.

Apple Company 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.