Berkshire Bank Buys 2,360 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Berkshire Bank increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,360 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 5.2% of Berkshire Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Berkshire Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted 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 in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Apple by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 3,097,244 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $721,658,000 after buying an additional 350,505 shares during the last quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 53,013 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,352,000 after buying an additional 2,913 shares during the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,863 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,599,000 after buying an additional 2,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 137,845 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $32,042,000 after buying an additional 8,483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.65.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $218.27 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $231.82 and a 200 day moving average of $233.26. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.