Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 22.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,696 shares during the period. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $487,435,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Apple by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after buying an additional 2,826,709 shares in the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $461,021,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank of America raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.05.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $169.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap 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. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.81. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

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.