Great Diamond Partners LLC Has $5.82 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Great Diamond Partners LLC decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,254 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 361 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.5% of Great Diamond Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Great Diamond Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd 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. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Maxim Group raised their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.65.

Apple Stock Up 1.0 %

AAPL opened at $223.85 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.53, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $230.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.