SHEPHERD WEALTH MANAGEMENT Ltd LIABILITY Co Buys New Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

SHEPHERD WEALTH MANAGEMENT Ltd LIABILITY Co purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,808,000. Apple comprises about 2.8% of SHEPHERD WEALTH MANAGEMENT Ltd LIABILITY Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $288,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth about $4,972,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.3% during the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.9% in the third quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,723,104 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $876,483,000 after buying an additional 103,856 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,308,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 directly owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $202.09 on Thursday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $205.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.26. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reissued a “cautious” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Maxim Group raised their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple 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.