Wealth Quarterback LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Wealth Quarterback LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,341 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 2,943 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.4% of Wealth Quarterback LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Wealth Quarterback LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $9,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $204.57 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $166.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.47, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $217.14 and a 200-day moving average of $229.52. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm'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 value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value 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. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $263.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.17.

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.

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