Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Raised by Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,807 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,449 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 3.3% of Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $6,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% during 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 in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Family Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wedbush dropped their price target on Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $232.63.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction 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 represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $213.32. 55,559,513 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,562,730. The business's fifty day moving average price is $213.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.95. The company has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.86, a PEG 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 12-month low of $169.11 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.