Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. Buys 937 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,302 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.0% of Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth about $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after acquiring an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.2 %

AAPL stock opened at $235.33 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $237.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.94. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.35, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.88.

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.