Riverbend Wealth Management LLC Invests $5.59 Million in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Riverbend Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 22,318 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $5,594,000. Apple accounts for about 5.0% of Riverbend Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 25,285.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,411,260,000 after buying an additional 9,590,933 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $208.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $205.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

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.