Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s 3rd Largest Position

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 847,414 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,519 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.0% of Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Apple were worth $197,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $239.36 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $241.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $3.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Maxim Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $253.00 price objective (down previously from $256.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.05.

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.