Ade LLC Purchases 74 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ade LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,329 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.4% of Ade LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Ade LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in 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 bought a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.88.

Apple Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $227.48 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $237.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $234.16. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.