Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 13,054,043 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 216,671 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.0% of Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,268,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,411,260,000 after acquiring an additional 9,590,933 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $199.20 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.37.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

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.