Rather & Kittrell Inc. Increases Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Rather & Kittrell Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 0.8% of Rather & Kittrell Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Rather & Kittrell Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares during the period. Unique Wealth LLC raised its position in Apple by 8.5% in the second quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 19,553 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,119,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners raised its position in Apple by 0.6% in the second quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 19,335 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,072,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its stake in Apple by 19.3% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 232,788 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $47,865,000 after acquiring an additional 37,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TCW Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 538,410 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $113,400,000 after acquiring an additional 15,399 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $237.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $240.63 and its 200 day moving average is $230.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $184.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.85.

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.