Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s Largest Position

Level Four Advisory Services LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 507,601 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,424 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 5.2% of Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $127,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 123,487 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $28,773,000 after acquiring an additional 2,333 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Apple by 1.8% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 4,934,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,149,623,000 after buying an additional 85,685 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.1% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 4,822,803 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,123,713,000 after buying an additional 51,495 shares during the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth $1,365,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in Apple by 18.2% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 9,583,232 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,232,893,000 after buying an additional 1,475,580 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.02.

Apple Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of AAPL opened at $203.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $201.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.