Advisory Resource Group Acquires 131 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Advisory Resource Group lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,594 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.3% of Advisory Resource Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Advisory Resource Group’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $170.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.26.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $190.42 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.23, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $223.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.