Heck Capital Advisors LLC Invests $10.86 Million in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 43,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $10,858,000. Apple accounts for about 0.7% of Heck Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its stake in Apple by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% in the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,505,000 after purchasing an additional 3,935 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.52.

Apple Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $217.90 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $230.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.26. The company has a market cap of $3.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a PEG 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued 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 0.46%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.