Strategent Financial LLC Makes New $441,000 Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Strategent Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,762 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $441,000. Apple accounts for approximately 0.4% of Strategent Financial LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Continuum Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,141 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,033 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,272,000 after acquiring an additional 6,592 shares during the period. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 65,563 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $16,418,000 after purchasing an additional 6,101 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 14,451 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,619,000 after purchasing an additional 4,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC boosted its position in Apple by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 11,861 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,970,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.60 during trading on Thursday, hitting $195.65. 10,286,099 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 55,924,623. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.06, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $209.64 and its 200-day moving average is $227.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup restated a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.80.

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.