Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC’s Largest Position

Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 156,825 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,711 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 6.6% of Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $39,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in 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 position in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.65.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $214.10 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $232.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.33. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.08 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.