Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Increased by Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV

Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 57.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,365 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,736 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.6% of Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 153,462 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $38,430,000 after buying an additional 1,354 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 626,881 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $156,983,000 after buying an additional 2,350 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 64.3% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 664,870 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $166,497,000 after buying an additional 260,271 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its holdings in Apple by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 176,965 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $44,316,000 after buying an additional 18,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,789,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson set a $290.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Apple to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.22.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $213.49 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.89, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.08 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $234.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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 anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.