Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC Buys 1,833 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 15.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,065 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,833 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 0.6% of Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $213.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.89, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $234.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.73.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.