Centre Asset Management LLC Has $31.44 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Centre Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 76.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 125,528 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,297 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 7.2% of Centre Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Centre Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $244.60 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $231.68.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

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.