Crescent Grove Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,667 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 309 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.0% of Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,201,000 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 AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.65.

Apple Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $212.69 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $233.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.60.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results 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, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.