Stewardship Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Stewardship Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 24.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,789 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,708 shares during the period. Stewardship Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. now owns 10,807 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,518,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Little House Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 105,070 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $24,481,000 after purchasing an additional 13,055 shares in the last quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP now owns 40,903 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,530,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. Finally, 1858 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. 1858 Wealth Management LLC now owns 33,116 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,716,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $251.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $251.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $233.09 and its 200-day moving average is $224.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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 analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued 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 yield of 0.40%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.