Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Weaver Consulting Group’s 5th Largest Position

Weaver Consulting Group lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,154 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 172 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.8% of Weaver Consulting Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Weaver Consulting Group’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $244.47 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.94. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

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.