Emerald Advisors LLC Purchases 122 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Emerald Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,897 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 0.7% of Emerald Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Emerald Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,877,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.9% during 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 period. Asset Planning Corporation boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $169.30 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $173.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.79. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27.

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, 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 business earned $1.88 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.05.

Apple Company 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.