Beckerman Institutional LLC Purchases Shares of 5,923 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Beckerman Institutional LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,923 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,380,000. Apple makes up 1.2% of Beckerman Institutional LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $184.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.85.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $234.40 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

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.