Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 821,627 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,829 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.9% of Stephens Inc. AR’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Apple were worth $205,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. O Connor Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Loop Capital lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $263.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.26.

Apple Stock Up 4.1 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $198.15 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $222.87 and a 200-day moving average of $231.14.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. 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.