Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Boosts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,297,612 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 44,775 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.1% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $302,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew 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 worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the third 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 period. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Thursday. Maxim Group increased their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Apple Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $236.00 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $241.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.