Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s Largest Position

Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 226,116 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,724 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 5.7% of Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $56,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. increased its position in shares of Apple by 44.6% in the second quarter. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. now owns 76,494 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,111,000 after acquiring an additional 23,588 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 545,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $114,951,000 after buying an additional 25,585 shares during the last quarter. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the second quarter. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. now owns 91,668 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,307,000 after buying an additional 1,169 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 18.8% during the second quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 7,579 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,597,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 118,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,049,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

AAPL opened at $245.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $240.52 and its 200 day moving average is $232.29. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

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.