Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 250,217 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,321 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.1% of Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $48,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 70.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $132,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Maxim Group assumed coverage on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. Finally, DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.05.

Apple Trading Up 0.5 %

AAPL stock opened at $169.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.80 and a 12-month high of $199.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day moving average is $173.30 and its 200 day moving average is $181.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.