Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Values Added Financial LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Values Added Financial LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,714 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.1% of Values Added Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Values Added Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $196.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $220.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

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.