Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lifted by Consolidated Planning Corp

Consolidated Planning Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,990 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,026 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.6% of Consolidated Planning Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Consolidated Planning Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $19,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Apple by 252.3% in 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 last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James increased their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.85.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $2.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $196.79. The company had a trading volume of 51,328,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,825,645. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.77 and a 12-month high of $260.10. 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 50-day moving average is $219.65 and its 200 day moving average is $230.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

About Apple

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.