XML Financial LLC Purchases 1,351 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

XML Financial LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 131,191 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,351 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 3.0% of XML Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. XML Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $32,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,355,447 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,090,691,000 after acquiring an additional 19,883 shares during the period. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 99,102 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $24,817,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the period. Genesis Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $1,363,000. Red Spruce Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $331,000. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 57,039 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,284,000 after acquiring an additional 3,765 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $275.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.88.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $220.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $236.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $234.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share 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, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.