Serenus Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Serenus Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 17,527 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $4,389,000. Apple makes up about 0.6% of Serenus Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in Apple by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $787,631,000 after acquiring an additional 588,427 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 47,320 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,026,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 34,252 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,981,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the period. TruWealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 181,552 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,301,000 after buying an additional 1,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heirloom Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Heirloom Wealth Management now owns 41,272 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,616,000 after buying an additional 744 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Barclays upped their target price on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research note on Wednesday. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.26.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $198.85 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $224.31 and a 200-day moving average of $231.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

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.