Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,567 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 3,946 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 4.0% of Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $18,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Overbrook Management Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $28,449,000 after buying an additional 38,174 shares during the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,967 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,740,000 after buying an additional 2,920 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 397,834 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $101,301,000 after acquiring an additional 8,446 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in Apple by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $363,256,000 after acquiring an additional 465,393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tufton Capital Management increased its position in Apple by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,496,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 target price on Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $297.58.
View Our Latest Analysis on AAPL
Insider Activity
In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Key Stories Impacting Apple
Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Apple Stock Performance
AAPL opened at $255.92 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $288.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average of $260.67 and a 200-day moving average of $263.21. The stock has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 13.15%.
Apple Company Profile
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Free Report)
Apple Inc NASDAQ: AAPL is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple's principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.
Featured Stories

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