15,673 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Purchased by Precedent Wealth Partners LLC

Precedent Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,673 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,018,000. Apple makes up 1.5% of Precedent Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 111,706 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,507,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in Apple by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 294,509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $56,702,000 after purchasing an additional 25,754 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in Apple by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 6,644 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,279,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 348,434 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $63,983,000 after purchasing an additional 18,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 78,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $15,173,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was 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 owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 253,915 shares of company stock worth $44,202,868 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.08.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $176.55 on Friday. 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 $161.42 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $176.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Apple 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.