Cooper Financial Group Buys 6,953 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cooper Financial Group grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 155,597 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 6,953 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.7% of Cooper Financial Group's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Cooper Financial Group's holdings in Apple were worth $38,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

Apple stock traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $245.55. The stock had a trading volume of 53,102,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 49,742,392. The company has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business's 50 day moving average price is $240.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $232.55. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. KeyCorp restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $244.85.

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.