Portfolio Design Labs LLC Has $24.89 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 25.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,388 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,850 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 5.1% of Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,181,000. Augustine Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 140,156 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,098,000 after purchasing an additional 6,641 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 147,311 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,890,000 after purchasing an additional 9,466 shares during the last quarter. Oceanside Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Oceanside Advisors LLC now owns 3,191 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $799,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shaker Investments LLC OH increased its position in shares of Apple by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 32,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,184,000 after purchasing an additional 8,417 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 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 have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush dropped their target price on Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Raymond James upped their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.85.

Apple Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $202.52 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $222.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.