Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. Invests $1.54 Million in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 6,129 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,000. Apple accounts for about 1.4% of Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Apple by 21.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $787,631,000 after acquiring an additional 588,427 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Apple by 12.8% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 3,097,244 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $721,658,000 after purchasing an additional 350,505 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 46,161 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,756,000 after purchasing an additional 8,352 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 187.4% during the 3rd quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 33,363 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,773,000 after purchasing an additional 21,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 160,653 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $37,432,000 after buying an additional 11,213 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Maxim Group increased their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.65.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $214.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap 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 company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $232.19 and a 200-day moving average of $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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.