Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Raised by Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC

Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,981 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.1% of Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $487,435,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Apple by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after buying an additional 2,826,709 shares during the period. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $461,021,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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 worth $35,394,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Redburn Partners downgraded Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.05.

Apple Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $165.84 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.10. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.80 and a 12-month high of $199.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $2.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.83, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

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.