11,727 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Purchased by NBZ Investment Advisors LLC

NBZ Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,727 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,937,000. Apple makes up approximately 1.6% of NBZ Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. denkapparat Operations GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,278,000. Tepp RIA LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,587,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,526,380 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,634,336,000 after purchasing an additional 251,750 shares during the period. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,628,000. Finally, Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $70,767,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $203.92 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $201.17 and its 200 day moving average is $224.18. 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 capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.02.

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.