SVB Wealth LLC Has $401.89 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

SVB Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 54,880.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,604,869 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,601,950 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 7.5% of SVB Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. SVB Wealth LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $401,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.5 %

Apple stock traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $198.53. The stock had a trading volume of 36,406,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,072,491. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $208.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.38. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business 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. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Maxim Group increased their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.