Birch Capital Management LLC Has $18.13 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Birch Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,390 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 9.1% of Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth $77,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $244.60 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $240.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $231.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple 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.