Strategent Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,762 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $441,000. Apple makes up approximately 0.4% of Strategent Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth $288,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its stake in Apple by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.1% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $87,501,000 after buying an additional 34,414 shares during the last quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 32.9% during the third quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simmons Bank raised its holdings in Apple by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $30,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at Apple
In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Apple Trading Up 0.0 %
NASDAQ AAPL traded up $0.03 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $198.92. The stock had a trading volume of 49,654,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,219,123. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $211.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $228.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Moffett Nathanson restated a "sell" rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Apple
About Apple
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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.
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