Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Adero Partners LLC

Adero Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 133,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,924 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.2% of Adero Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Adero Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $33,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 21.1% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $787,631,000 after buying an additional 588,427 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 24,199 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,638,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its stake in Apple by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 254,357 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,265,000 after purchasing an additional 21,569 shares during the period. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 100.2% during the 3rd quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 14,148 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leisure Capital Management raised its stake in Apple by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Leisure Capital Management now owns 81,242 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $18,929,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $263.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. Four investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.26.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction 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 approximately $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 quarter, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $188.38 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.08 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $229.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.16. 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 $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.