Boston Financial Mangement LLC Acquires 3,248 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 716,496 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 3,248 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.4% of Boston Financial Mangement LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Boston Financial Mangement LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $179,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hardy Reed LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 136,107 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $34,084,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $2,282,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 6,765,969 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,694,334,000 after purchasing an additional 272,756 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 361,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $90,485,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unionview LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 45.4% during the fourth quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 30,231 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $7,570,000 after acquiring an additional 9,435 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wedbush decreased their price target on Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.31.

Apple Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $1.07 on Tuesday, reaching $211.21. The company had a trading volume of 35,359,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,661,567. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $215.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.19. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.11 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

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.