Capital Investment Advisors LLC Has $111.39 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 444,817 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,833 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.3% of Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $111,391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings 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 valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James raised their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $245.83 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $240.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $232.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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 $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.