Bank Hapoalim BM Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bank Hapoalim BM bought a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 49,502 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $9,531,000. Apple comprises 1.2% of Bank Hapoalim BM’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bellecapital International Ltd. lifted its position in Apple by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 116,948 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264 shares during the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 27,279 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,252,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. now owns 57,113 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,996,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 199,909 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $38,488,000 after buying an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 86,625 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,679,000 after buying an additional 6,962 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $167.04 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $162.80 and a one year high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.34.

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.