Raymond James Trust N.A. Has $142.70 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 741,160 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 13,337 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 3.8% of Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Apple were worth $142,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its position in Apple by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $456,728,000 after acquiring an additional 435,891 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Markel Corp boosted its position in Apple by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $210,752,000 after acquiring an additional 8,450 shares during the period. Camden Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,305,000 after acquiring an additional 13,200 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,629,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.27.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $173.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.98 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $181.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.73. The firm has a market cap of $2.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.00, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

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.