CKW Financial Group Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

CKW Financial Group increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,641 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,963 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 0.5% of CKW Financial Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. CKW Financial Group’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.65.

Apple Stock Down 0.5 %

AAPL opened at $214.10 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $232.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.33. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders 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 payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.