Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is JLB & Associates Inc.’s Largest Position

JLB & Associates Inc. reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,052 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,655 shares during the period. Apple comprises 5.1% of JLB & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. JLB & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $35,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 5.5% during the third quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 13.6% in the third quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $29,589,000 after acquiring an additional 20,737 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,461,000 after acquiring an additional 10,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in Apple by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after acquiring an additional 279,311 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $165.00 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.80 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $174.67 and a 200-day moving average of $182.11. The firm has a market cap of $2.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler Companies cut shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $220.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.