Zacks Investment Management Takes $330.43 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,418,170 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $330,434,000. Apple accounts for 2.9% of Zacks Investment Management's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $242.52.

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Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $3.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $244.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 40,828,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,141,047. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $240.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.41. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple 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.