Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 495,363 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 68,537 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.8% of Empowered Funds LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $124,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $190.42 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $223.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.33. The company has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $170.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Maxim Group increased their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $240.26.

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.