Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC Purchases Shares of 12,606 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 12,606 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,157,000. Apple accounts for about 1.2% of Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $235.33 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $237.89 and a 200 day moving average of $233.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.08 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share 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 fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Four research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.88.

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.