Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Purchases Shares of 103,719 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 103,719 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $23,417,000. Apple comprises about 5.1% of Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, SMH Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $209,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

AAPL opened at $234.93 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $228.83 and a 200-day moving average of $219.23. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24.

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 return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Moffett Nathanson decreased their price target on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.