Ballentine Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 311,144 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,275 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.2% of Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $59,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $487,435,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Apple by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,709 shares during the period. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $461,021,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Apple by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.5 %

Apple stock opened at $169.89 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $173.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $162.80 and a one year high of $199.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Maxim Group assumed coverage on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.05.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.