Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Grows Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 322,192 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,436 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.5% of Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $80,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its position in Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $209.68 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.28, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $235.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.22.

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.