Brookstone Capital Management Has $142.25 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Brookstone Capital Management lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 568,037 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 15,376 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.1% of Brookstone Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $142,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $245.83 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $240.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate 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.