Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Valmark Advisers Inc.

Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 197,176 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,998 shares during the period. Apple comprises 0.7% of Valmark Advisers Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $45,942,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after acquiring an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 5.2% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $406,099,000 after buying an additional 95,235 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $252.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50 day moving average is $237.41 and its 200-day moving average is $227.89. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate 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 given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction 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 represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.47.

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.