Palacios Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Palacios Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,024 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $3,092,000. Apple makes up 3.3% of Palacios Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus upgraded Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Moffett Nathanson reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.85.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $2.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $196.79. 51,328,536 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,825,645. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.77 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $219.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

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.