Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by LifeSteps Financial Inc.

LifeSteps Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,280 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 6.6% of LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays raised their target price on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.31.

Apple Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $211.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $214.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.06. 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 cap of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.11 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.