Bonfire Financial Buys Shares of 9,565 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bonfire Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 9,565 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,395,000. Apple accounts for approximately 2.2% of Bonfire Financial’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third 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 period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $198.15 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.16. 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 $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple 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.