Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Sharper & Granite LLC

Sharper & Granite LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,302 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.7% of Sharper & Granite LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Sharper & Granite LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price objective on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America increased their price target on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.85.

Apple Stock Up 0.6 %

AAPL opened at $247.10 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $240.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.12. 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 company has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 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, 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.