Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC Has $32.39 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 129,322 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,233 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.8% of Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $32,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.52.

Apple Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $217.90 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $230.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.26. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.