apricus wealth LLC Raises Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

apricus wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 831 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.7% of apricus wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. apricus wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $165.00 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $174.67 and a 200 day moving average of $182.11. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.80 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following 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 through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Maxim Group assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler Companies lowered Apple to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.34.

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.