Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Increased by Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC

Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 20.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,853 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 1,865 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.3% of Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.85.

Apple Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Apple stock traded down $5.56 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $196.58. 9,075,858 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 59,900,188. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $221.65 and a 200-day moving average of $230.79.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.