Crane Advisory LLC Increases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Crane Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,655 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 0.7% of Crane Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Crane Advisory LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its position in Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Summit Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 16,252.3% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 6,949,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Redburn Partners downgraded Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Maxim Group began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $189.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.34.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $165.00 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $2.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $174.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.17. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.80 and a 52-week high of $199.62.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Apple 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.