Curran Financial Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Curran Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,785 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.7% of Curran Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Curran Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in Apple by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $787,631,000 after buying an additional 588,427 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Apple by 12.8% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 3,097,244 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $721,658,000 after acquiring an additional 350,505 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 46,161 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,756,000 after acquiring an additional 8,352 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 187.4% in the 3rd quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 33,363 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,773,000 after acquiring an additional 21,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its position in shares of Apple by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 160,653 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $37,432,000 after purchasing an additional 11,213 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $214.10 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $232.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.33. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.08 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.65.

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.