Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Emerald Advisors LLC’s 9th Largest Position

Emerald Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 287 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 0.7% of Emerald Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Emerald Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 390,059 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $209.28 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.11 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $215.71 and a 200-day moving average of $229.31. The company has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Raymond James upped their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.88.

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.