Covenant Asset Management LLC Has $19.21 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Covenant Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 99,782 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,255 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.5% of Covenant Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Covenant Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth 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. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP boosted its stake in Apple by 200.0% in the third quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its stake in Apple by 21.7% in the first 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. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $165.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.80 and a 12-month high of $199.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.34.

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.