Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC’s Largest Position

Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,289 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 354 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 17.1% of Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $288,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its stake in Apple by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.88.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $227.48 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.11, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.08 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $237.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $234.16.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

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.