Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Essential Planning LLC.

Essential Planning LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3,181.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 263,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 255,245 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 0.4% of Essential Planning LLC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Essential Planning LLC.’s holdings in Apple were worth $62,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction 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 approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $201.36 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $205.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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 company had revenue of $95.36 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. 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. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.