Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Palouse Capital Management Inc.

Palouse Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,167 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.0% of Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MN Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. MN Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,203 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,807,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 9,097 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,278,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in Apple by 39.5% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 52,903 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,248,000 after buying an additional 14,972 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Apple by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,248,954 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $312,763,000 after buying an additional 96,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 219,761 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $55,033,000 after acquiring an additional 16,880 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 1.9 %

AAPL opened at $193.16 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $218.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $229.90. The company has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.66, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.77 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company 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 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. 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 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their target price on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.85.

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.