Goldstone Financial Group LLC Acquires 1,409 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Goldstone Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,409 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Channel Wealth LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 58,816 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,729,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the period. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its position in Apple by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares during the period. First National Bank of Hutchinson lifted its position in Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 148,084 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $37,083,000 after buying an additional 1,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenhouse Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Greenhouse Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,207 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,554,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. DA Davidson set a $290.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.88.

Apple Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $241.76 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $239.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.