Clark & Stuart Inc Takes $2.18 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Clark & Stuart Inc bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 8,721 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,184,000. Apple accounts for 1.6% of Clark & Stuart Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised 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 valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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 value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $245.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $240.52 and a 200-day moving average of $232.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS 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%. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.