Sovran Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 53,256 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 53,256 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $12,424,000. Apple accounts for approximately 1.8% of Sovran Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McBroom & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC now owns 37,680 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $9,436,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,267,000. Bonfire Financial acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,395,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 330,874 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $82,858,000 after acquiring an additional 8,352 shares during the period. Finally, BostonPremier Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,923,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 1.0 %

AAPL stock traded up $1.95 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $196.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,618,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,637,330. The company's fifty day moving average price is $220.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.53. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.05, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 is currently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush cut their target price on Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Loop Capital cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.85.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, 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 sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.