Echo Wealth Management LLC Has $2.18 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Echo Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,770 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 835 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.0% of Echo Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Echo Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP lifted its stake in Apple by 200.0% in the third quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. West Tower Group LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Redburn Partners downgraded Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. DA Davidson began coverage on Apple in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 target price for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.23.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $169.58 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $159.78 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $178.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.33.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 253,915 shares of company stock worth $44,202,868. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.