Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV Purchases 3,179 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 20.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,058 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,179 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.4% of Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position in Apple by 20.0% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in Apple by 0.4% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Markel Corp grew its position in Apple by 0.7% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Camden Capital LLC grew its position in Apple by 9.2% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,629,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $171.48 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $181.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.66. The company has a market capitalization of $2.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.35 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 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 firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 21st. DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Redburn Atlantic lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Apple from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.53.

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.