Oak Asset Management LLC Has $37.31 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Oak Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 148,988 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 875 shares during the period. Apple makes up 13.8% of Oak Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Oak Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $37,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Latitude Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

AAPL opened at $247.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.12.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.85.

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.