Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC Has $10.82 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 43,207 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 690 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 4.8% of Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd 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. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $218.27 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $3.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.26. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

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, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Maxim Group increased their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.65.

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.