Northstar Advisory Group LLC Has $8.71 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Northstar Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,795 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 895 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.4% of Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Adapt Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Adapt Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,337 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after buying an additional 1,276 shares during the period. X Square Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 13,629 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares during the period. DDFG Inc raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. DDFG Inc now owns 27,014 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,690,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Stonekeep Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,376,000. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 18,721 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,943,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.85.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $245.55 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.