Bank OZK Boosts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Bank OZK lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,373 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Apple comprises 5.7% of Bank OZK’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Bank OZK’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.16.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $226.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $220.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.60.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple 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.