Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Ellis Investment Partners LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,227 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 887 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.8% of Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Next Level Wealth Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,153,000. TigerOak Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $25,527,000. Compton Financial Group LLC raised its position in Apple by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Compton Financial Group LLC now owns 5,755 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,101 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $777,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Puff Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $5,236,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $196.79 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.77 and a 12-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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $219.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.13.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 is presently 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.85.

About Apple

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.