Central Valley Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Central Valley Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,691 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 884 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 6.9% of Central Valley Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Central Valley Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. UBS Group lifted their price target on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Apple to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.88.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $241.76 on Friday. 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 $3.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.37, a PEG 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $239.60 and a 200-day moving average of $233.67.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.