Charles Schwab Trust Co Raises Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Charles Schwab Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,616 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,283 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Trust Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its position in Apple by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 4.8 %

AAPL stock opened at $227.48 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $237.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.16. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company 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.