Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,740 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 4.4% of Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 14,395.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after acquiring an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $487,435,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after buying an additional 2,826,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler Companies cut shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.62.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $169.30 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $172.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.63. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.