Threadgill Financial LLC Grows Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Threadgill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,429 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 1.5% of Threadgill Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Threadgill Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Latitude Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,016,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $245.83 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $232.29. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.