Smith Salley & Associates Has $90.96 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Smith Salley & Associates increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 472,447 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,039 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 5.9% of Smith Salley & Associates’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Smith Salley & Associates’ holdings in Apple were worth $90,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Apple by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,709 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,605,195,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,519,918 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,020,609,000 after purchasing an additional 287,329 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $173.50 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $172.86 and a 200 day moving average of $181.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Redburn Partners downgraded shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.62.

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.