Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Davis R M Inc.

Davis R M Inc. raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,119,159 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,019 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 5.0% of Davis R M Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $260,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted 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 acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Raymond James increased their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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

Apple Trading Down 0.7 %

Apple stock opened at $236.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $241.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.82, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.