Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Executive Wealth Management LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Executive Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 214,619 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.9% of Executive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Executive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $41,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 14,395.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Apple by 6.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after buying an additional 2,826,709 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Apple by 4.6% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,605,195,000 after buying an additional 1,696,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,519,918 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,020,609,000 after buying an additional 287,329 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.11.

Apple Stock Up 6.0 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $183.38 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.67. 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 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 153.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 14.93%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was 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 approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple 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 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 have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.