Rice Partnership LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Rice Partnership LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 199,881 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,318 shares during the period. Apple comprises 10.0% of Rice Partnership LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Rice Partnership LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $38,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 70.2% during the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $111,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 0.3 %

AAPL traded down $0.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $169.30. The stock had a trading volume of 44,717,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,363,952. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.79.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler Companies downgraded shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.05.

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.