Agate Pass Investment Management LLC Has $11.71 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Agate Pass Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,655 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.3% of Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Envision Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $512,000. HFG Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. HFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,982 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Asset Allocation & Management Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,202,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,839,577 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $961,506,000 after acquiring an additional 116,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,889 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,250,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

AAPL opened at $245.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $240.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $232.55. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Citigroup raised their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.