Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Cooper Financial Group’s Largest Position

Cooper Financial Group increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 155,597 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,953 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.7% of Cooper Financial Group’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Apple were worth $38,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 worth $813,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during 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 increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $245.55 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $240.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $232.55. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.98, 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 current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

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.