Stephens Inc. AR Acquires 13,003 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 810,798 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,003 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.7% of Stephens Inc. AR’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Apple were worth $188,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares during the period. LPF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 4.5% during the second quarter. LPF Advisors LLC now owns 2,355 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1.5% in the second quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC now owns 71,138 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 102,149 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $21,515,000 after purchasing an additional 10,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. increased its position in Apple by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 19,618 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,132,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 2.6 %

AAPL opened at $243.85 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $238.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $228.58. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.47.

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.