Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 54.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,262,924 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 443,462 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.0% of Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $243,151,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its position in Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 70.2% in the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $132,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Redburn Partners cut Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Citigroup cut their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.00.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $183.38 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $172.17 and a 200-day moving average of $181.60.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.93%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other 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 transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.