Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Raised by Quantum Financial Advisors LLC

Quantum Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 6,004 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.4% of Quantum Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. O Connor Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Latitude Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AAPL. UBS Group set a $270.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment 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, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $247.10 on Tuesday. 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 cap of $3.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.22, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.12. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Apple Company 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.