Orca Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Orca Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 58,457 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $14,639,000. Apple comprises 13.2% of Orca Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. State Street Corp grew its position in Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.65.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $218.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.42. The company has a market capitalization of $3.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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