Marino Stram & Associates LLC Purchases 219 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,158 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.4% of Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Raymond James increased their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.22.

Apple Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $216.98 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $235.80 and its 200-day moving average is $234.00. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.