Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Sargent Investment Group LLC

Sargent Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 178,954 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 23,389 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 6.8% of Sargent Investment Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $41,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Apple by 21.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $787,631,000 after purchasing an additional 588,427 shares during the period. Clayton Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 36,862 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,589,000 after buying an additional 4,168 shares during the period. Nova R Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nova R Wealth Inc. now owns 34,104 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,946,000 after buying an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 199,665 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $46,522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,701 shares during the period. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 2,083 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 7.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $188.38 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $229.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $232.96. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

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.