Arcus Capital Partners LLC Purchases 555 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Arcus Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,736 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.1% of Arcus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Arcus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $487,435,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Apple by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after buying an additional 2,826,709 shares in the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $461,021,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Apple by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $169.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $2.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $173.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.85. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.80 and a 52 week high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its 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 the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 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.