Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC Boosts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,266 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 2.6% of Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its position in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $263.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.00.

Apple Trading Up 3.4 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $199.74 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.92 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $217.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Apple Company 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.