Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by HBW Advisory Services LLC

HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 42,126 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,752 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.5% of HBW Advisory Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 20,372.7% in 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 buying an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Loop Capital lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $244.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $240.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $232.20. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.