Evanson Asset Management LLC Has $105.90 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Evanson Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 422,893 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 583 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 7.5% of Evanson Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Evanson Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $105,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $3,157,000. Cascade Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 30,527 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,645,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 175,985 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $44,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2,662 shares during the period. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $3,552,000. Finally, Cambridge Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Advisors Inc. now owns 40,276 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,086,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Raymond James upped their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $275.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Four research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.88.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $235.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.