Kieckhefer Group LLC Takes $930,000 Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,712 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $930,000. Apple accounts for about 0.6% of Kieckhefer Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 14,145.8% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $245.83 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $240.52 and a 200 day moving average of $232.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.20. 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 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.87%.

About Apple

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.