Davis Investment Partners LLC Buys 2,055 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Davis Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,198 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,055 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.2% of Davis Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Davis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $245.55 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. 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 company has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $240.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.72.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $275.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.85.

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.