Alera Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 295 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Alera Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,536 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.3% of Alera Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Alera Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $487,435,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,709 shares during the period. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $461,021,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $169.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.80 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average is $173.30 and its 200 day moving average is $181.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 14.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Redburn Partners cut Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 over the last 90 days. 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.