Grove Street Fiduciary LLC Acquires Shares of 4,688 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Grove Street Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,688 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,174,000. Apple accounts for 0.6% of Grove Street Fiduciary LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $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 three months, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $210.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $215.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.19. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.11 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.36, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.31.

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.