Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Boosted by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 21.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 747,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 130,860 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.6% of Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $174,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 16.0% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 11,521 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592 shares during the period. Total Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 6.4% during the third quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. now owns 32,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,644,000 after buying an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 46.8% during the third quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 41,934 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,771,000 after buying an additional 13,372 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 285,248 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $66,463,000 after buying an additional 10,604 shares during the period. Finally, Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at about $4,814,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of 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 represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This 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

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $184.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Maxim Group boosted their price target 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. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.85.

Apple Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $229.98 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $241.01 and its 200 day moving average is $230.72. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve 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 data 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 company 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

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.