Fulcrum Equity Management Invests $313,000 in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 1,626 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $313,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 826.3% in the 4th quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 74,527 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,690,000 after purchasing an additional 66,481 shares during the period. Hill Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Hill Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 10,125 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,949,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares during the period. John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs now owns 15,842 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,050,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Financial Enhancement Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 48,180 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,801,000 after buying an additional 2,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFB Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,458,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $176.55 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.42 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The business’s 50 day moving average is $176.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.31.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders sold 253,915 shares of company stock worth $44,202,868 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. DA Davidson began coverage on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.08.

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.