Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Boosted by Forbes J M & Co. LLP

Forbes J M & Co. LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 249,186 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,572 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 6.0% of Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s holdings in Apple were worth $62,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in Apple by 252.3% during 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 during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $110,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $190.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.23, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $223.56 and a 200-day moving average of $231.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $263.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $240.26.

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.