Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Sound Stewardship LLC

Sound Stewardship LLC boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,257 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the quarter. Sound Stewardship LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $816,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Warner Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Warner Financial Inc. now owns 15,763 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,947,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609 shares during the last quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 18,577 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the period. Buffington Mohr McNeal boosted its stake in Apple by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 61,320 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $15,356,000 after acquiring an additional 4,496 shares during the period. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,222 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,311,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Finally, Altus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Altus Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,669 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,171,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

Apple stock opened at $218.27 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $231.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Maxim Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.65.

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.