Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is LexAurum Advisors LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

LexAurum Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 68,450 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.4% of LexAurum Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. LexAurum Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 1.8 %

Apple stock opened at $213.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $234.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.77. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $290.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.22.

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.