Brown Financial Advisory Buys 433 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Brown Financial Advisory grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 31.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,798 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 0.3% of Brown Financial Advisory’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Brown Financial Advisory’s holdings in Apple were worth $450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 59,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,858,000 after purchasing an additional 12,501 shares during the last quarter. Stephenson & Company Inc. increased its position in Apple by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Stephenson & Company Inc. now owns 7,074 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,771,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Custom Index Systems LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC now owns 42,884 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,739,000 after buying an additional 1,418 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $10,858,000. Finally, TriaGen Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 174,652 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $43,736,000 after acquiring an additional 2,961 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $217.90 on Friday. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $230.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.26. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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 expect 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 given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Maxim Group increased their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.52.

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.