Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Lifted by Occidental Asset Management LLC

Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 148,084 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,783 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.8% of Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $37,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. DA Davidson set a $290.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $241.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $239.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.67. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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.