Howard Financial Services LTD. Has $33.74 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,741 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 1,337 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.6% of Howard Financial Services LTD.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Howard Financial Services LTD.'s holdings in Apple were worth $33,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.7% during 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 buying an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 1.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the period. 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 buying an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $243.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $235.74. 47,184,984 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,560,264. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $238.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.42, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 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.