Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 3,605 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,605 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $903,000. Apple makes up 1.9% of Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $288,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its holdings in Apple by 12.8% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after acquiring an additional 28,799 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,505,000 after acquiring an additional 3,935 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in Apple by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,501,000 after acquiring an additional 34,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 5th Street Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $196.79 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.77 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $219.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.85.

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.