Oak Thistle LLC Makes New $2.24 Million Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 8,962 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,244,000. Apple makes up approximately 0.7% of Oak Thistle LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.88.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $247.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $240.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.34. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

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

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.