CX Institutional Buys 18,481 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

CX Institutional boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 176,965 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,481 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.8% of CX Institutional’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. CX Institutional’s holdings in Apple were worth $44,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing 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. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.8% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after buying an additional 28,799 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.22.

Apple Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $213.49 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.89, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $234.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Apple’s payout ratio is 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.