Seros Financial LLC Makes New $1.48 Million Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Seros Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,927 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,484,000. Apple makes up about 1.3% of Seros Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its position in Apple by 254.9% during the second quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 107,030 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,543,000 after purchasing an additional 76,870 shares during the last quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 148.5% during the 2nd quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 655 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 27.0% during the 2nd quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 45,215 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,523,000 after buying an additional 9,605 shares during the period. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc raised its position in Apple by 6.0% in the second quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 128,030 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,966,000 after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares during the period. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 23.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 70,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,865,000 after buying an additional 13,354 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $213.49 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $234.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.89, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Company 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.