Annex Advisory Services LLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 48.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 298,608 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 97,567 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.2% of Annex Advisory Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $69,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP increased its position 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 last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth about $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $237.33 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $229.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. 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 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.68.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. 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.