Eagle Asset Management Inc. Has $121.76 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 16.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 536,460 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 76,601 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $121,755,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position 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 period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.05.

Apple Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $237.62 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $241.37 and a 200-day moving average of $230.81. The company has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.08, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.