Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lifted by Adero Partners LLC

Adero Partners LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,925 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.0% of Adero Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Adero Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $212.48 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $204.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.41. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.10, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

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

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.