Berkshire Money Management Inc. Has $5.79 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Berkshire Money Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,133 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,646 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.6% of Berkshire Money Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Berkshire Money Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $188.38 on Friday. 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 $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $229.45 and a 200-day moving average of $232.96. The company has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 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, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

About Apple

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.