Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Range Financial Group LLC

Range Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 66.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,153 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 0.9% of Range Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Range Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

Apple stock opened at $244.47 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $240.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $231.94. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Research analysts expect 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, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

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.