Sax Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 87,552 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sax Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 87,552 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $21,925,000. Apple comprises 1.7% of Sax Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position.

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

Apple Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $238.03 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $239.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.85. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.78, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid 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 yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple 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 transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple 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.