Bellecapital International Ltd. Grows Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bellecapital International Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 116,948 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,264 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.1% of Bellecapital International Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Bellecapital International Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its position in Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 16,252.3% in the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 6,949,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC grew its position in Apple by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. DA Davidson began coverage on Apple in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price objective on the stock. 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 report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America raised 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 research report on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.34.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $167.04 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $2.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.10. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.80 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

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.