Prentice Wealth Management LLC Acquires 2,519 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 22.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,601 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.0% of Prentice Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Prentice Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.9% in the third quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. MKT Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.5% during the second quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Cassia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the third quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Family CFO Inc increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the third quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 950 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $173.31 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.00, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $155.98 and a one year high of $199.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $181.68 and a 200 day moving average of $182.73.

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, beating 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 business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other 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 transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler Companies cut shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.27.

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.