Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Aurora Private Wealth Inc.

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 36,313 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,429 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 5.3% of Aurora Private Wealth Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Aurora Private Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE increased its holdings in Apple by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE now owns 20,494 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,514,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750 shares during the last quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 11.6% during the first quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 80,718 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,842,000 after buying an additional 8,376 shares in the last quarter. Rainey & Randall Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the first quarter. Rainey & Randall Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,546,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Essex Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.2% in the first quarter. Essex Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,007 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cassia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,389 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $169.30. The company had a trading volume of 44,717,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,363,952. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $173.04 and its 200 day moving average is $181.79. 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 capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were 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 directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Redburn Partners lowered Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.05.

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.