HF Advisory Group LLC Grows Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

HF Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,966 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,098 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.4% of HF Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $275.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $235.74 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.08 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.42, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $238.36 and its 200-day moving average is $233.93. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio 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.