Stonebridge Financial Group LLC Takes $34.27 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 136,837 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $34,267,000. Apple comprises about 3.8% of Stonebridge Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in Apple by 25,285.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,411,260,000 after buying an additional 9,590,933 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.26.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $198.15 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $231.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.