AJ Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

AJ Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,173 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,494 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.4% of AJ Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. AJ Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Apple by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 31,335 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,033,000 after buying an additional 2,681 shares in the last quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 69,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,301,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,736 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,030,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 52,536 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,115,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its position in Apple by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 83,604 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $15,576,000 after purchasing an additional 15,884 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $189.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Redburn Partners cut Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $169.30 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $173.04 and its 200 day moving average is $181.79.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders 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 presently 14.95%.

Apple Company 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.