Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Raised by Wallington Asset Management LLC

Wallington Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 131,557 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,095 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 4.3% of Wallington Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Wallington Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $30,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,807 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after buying an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,291,583,000 after buying an additional 1,065,759 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Apple by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,214,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,359,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,745,201 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,526,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557,848 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

Apple stock opened at $254.49 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $255.00. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $234.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.48.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.