Objective Capital Management LLC Makes New $9.58 Million Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Objective Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 41,111 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $9,579,000. Apple accounts for 5.6% of Objective Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after buying an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 1.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,473,224,000 after acquiring an additional 126,210 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its position in Apple by 12.8% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after acquiring an additional 28,799 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $237.87 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.52. 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 $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Maxim Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Loop Capital lowered their target price 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. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.85.

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.