Bleakley Financial Group LLC Has $117.64 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 611,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,249 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.7% of Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $117,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in Apple by 70.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $132,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $173.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $172.15 and a 200 day moving average of $181.57. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $199.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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 business 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Maxim Group started 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, Bank of America raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.62.

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.