Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC Buys 253 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,183 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.6% of Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its holdings in Apple by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,122,000 after acquiring an additional 28,799 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.22.

Apple Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $216.98 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $235.80 and its 200 day moving average is $234.00. The company has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share 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 research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’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 owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company 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.