Brucke Financial Inc. Has $3.38 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Brucke Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Apple Inc. by 32.3% during the 1st quarter, bringing its total to $3.38 million for 15,903 shares.
• Several institutional investors have also boosted their stakes in Apple, with 67.73% of the company's stock now owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts have given Apple a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $239.05, following strong earnings performance and upgraded ratings from multiple research firms.

Brucke Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 32.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,903 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 3,882 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.9% of Brucke Financial Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Brucke Financial Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $3,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Apple by 25,934.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $239.05.

Apple Stock Down 0.0%

AAPL traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $239.69. The company had a trading volume of 54,829,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,688,568. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $219.28 and a 200-day moving average of $212.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.