Essex Private Wealth Management LLC Has $1.12 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Essex Private Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,819 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 292 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.5% of Essex Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Essex Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 70.2% during the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. increased its position in Apple by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $132,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $182.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $172.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.78. The firm has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $196.00 price objective (up previously from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.11.

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.