Czech National Bank Purchases 180,292 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,277,536 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 180,292 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 7.6% of Czech National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $820,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. O Connor Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Latitude Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $245.83 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $240.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. 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 is 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.