Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Essex Savings Bank

Essex Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 111,301 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,159 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 6.2% of Essex Savings Bank’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $21,429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $221,753,959,000 after purchasing an additional 8,734,393 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 116,483.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $74,002,245,000 after acquiring an additional 569,066,184 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 2.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 291,538,165 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $56,396,763,000 after acquiring an additional 6,367,053 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Apple by 3.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 234,017,381 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $38,589,468,000 after acquiring an additional 7,736,013 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in Apple by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,110,586,000 after acquiring an additional 25,926,552 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of Apple 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.34.

Apple Stock Down 1.2 %

AAPL opened at $165.00 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $162.80 and a one year high of $199.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend 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.