Root Financial Partners LLC Has $18.79 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 75,023 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,453 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.3% of Root Financial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Loop Capital downgraded 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. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.85.

Insider Activity

In other Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $196.79 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $219.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is presently 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.