10,083 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Bought by Baring Financial LLC

Baring Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 10,083 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,525,000. Apple accounts for approximately 2.3% of Baring Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gries Financial LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 33,024 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,270,000 after purchasing an additional 879 shares during the period. Equita Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,163,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 59,931 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $15,008,000 after buying an additional 12,766 shares during the last quarter. Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,067,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Apple by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 40,700 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,192,000 after acquiring an additional 10,919 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $223.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $231.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.43. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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 of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.