Americana Partners LLC Purchases 212,762 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Americana Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 114.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 398,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 212,762 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.1% of Americana Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $99,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $199.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.69. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.92 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $263.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.00.

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.