Equita Financial Network Inc. Acquires 383 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Equita Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Milestone Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 27.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,067,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its stake in Apple by 36.7% during the 4th 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. VanderPol Investments L.L.C. grew its holdings in Apple by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. VanderPol Investments L.L.C. now owns 2,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 53,410 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,375,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $223.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $231.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.43.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, research 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 paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AAPL. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.