Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 137,618 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 160 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 5.0% of Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $26,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,605,195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,576 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.05.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $169.30. The company had a trading volume of 44,717,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,363,952. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $173.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.