Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Brookmont Capital Management

Brookmont Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,065 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 135 shares during the quarter. Brookmont Capital Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in 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 lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $275.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Apple to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.88.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $227.48 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $237.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.16. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.