Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 50.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 13,085 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 5.4% of Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 3.4% during the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 223,982 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $51,644,000 after buying an additional 7,365 shares during the period. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 147.9% during the 3rd quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 28,235 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,579,000 after acquiring an additional 16,845 shares during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 17,933 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,182,000 after purchasing an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. Arbor Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 135.3% during the third quarter. Arbor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 60,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,982,000 after purchasing an additional 34,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Manor Financial LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the third quarter. Sterling Manor Financial LLC now owns 13,593 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,167,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price objective on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.47.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

AAPL opened at $255.59 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $237.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $227.79. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. Company 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.