Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Boosted by Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,618 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 160 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 5.0% of Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $26,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after buying an additional 2,826,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,605,195,000 after buying an additional 1,696,576 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler Companies downgraded shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $220.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Redburn Partners downgraded shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.05.

Apple Trading Down 0.3 %

AAPL stock traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $169.30. 44,717,137 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,363,952. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $199.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $173.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.