McLean Asset Management Corp Increases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,386 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 8,894 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.6% of McLean Asset Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. McLean Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Apple by 21.1% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $787,631,000 after acquiring an additional 588,427 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 22.1% in the third 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 last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 during the period. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its position in Apple by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 160,653 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $37,432,000 after purchasing an additional 11,213 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.65.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $214.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.98, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $232.19 and a 200 day moving average of $233.33.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

About Apple

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.