Guardian Financial Partners LLC Has $3.64 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Guardian Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,520 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.2% of Guardian Financial Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Guardian Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 1.8% in 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 period. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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 $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $241.76 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $239.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.58. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $275.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.88.

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.