Kowal Investment Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kowal Investment Group LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 46,186 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,593 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.1% of Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,155,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation raised its position in Apple by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Piper Sandler Companies lowered Apple to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.34.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.6 %

AAPL stock opened at $167.04 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.80 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

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.