Acorn Creek Capital LLC Grows Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Acorn Creek Capital LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,577 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.4% of Acorn Creek Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Acorn Creek Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $218.27 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $231.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.65.

Apple Company Profile

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.