Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Palouse Capital Management Inc.

Palouse Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,167 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.0% of Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 252.3% during 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 acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % 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 worth $40,818,720 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $193.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.66, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.77 and a one year high of $260.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $218.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.90. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.