Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 222,938 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 0.6% of CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $55,828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $240.36 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.39. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.15, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Maxim Group increased their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.88.

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.