Golden State Wealth Management LLC Buys New Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 123,818 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $31,007,000. Apple makes up 4.6% of Golden State Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $110,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Maxim Group increased their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.23.

Apple Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $172.42 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $225.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.01. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.08 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Apple 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.