13,311 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Bought by Centurion Wealth Management LLC

Centurion Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 13,311 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,729,000. Apple comprises approximately 2.0% of Centurion Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kellett Schaffner Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Kellett Schaffner Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,504 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,404,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Retirement Group Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $364,000. AJ Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $1,431,000. Ledge Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Ledge Wealth Management Inc. now owns 30,612 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,977,000 after buying an additional 5,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC increased its stake in Apple by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 10,405 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. 57.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. National Bank Financial decreased their target price on Apple to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 20th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Apple from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total value of $9,261,412.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,766,188.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total transaction of $9,261,412.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,766,188.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $708,979.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,881,483.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $172.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $163.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.10. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.17 and a twelve month high of $176.15. The stock has a market cap of $2.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. The company had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.30%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 4th that permits the company to buyback $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Profile

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.