Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Grows Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,261 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 2,131 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $5,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $208.32. The stock had a trading volume of 24,722,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,689,747. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $229.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $168.15 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Raymond James increased their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush cut their target price on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.88.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by 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.