Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Keener Financial Planning LLC

Keener Financial Planning LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,928 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 515 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 0.7% of Keener Financial Planning LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Keener Financial Planning LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its holdings in Apple by 12.8% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 4.2% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,505,000 after purchasing an additional 3,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.5% during the third quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 276,791 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $64,492,000 after purchasing an additional 6,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $202.14 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $221.65 and a 200 day moving average of $230.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple 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 directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Maxim Group raised their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.85.

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.