Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Boosted by McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc.

McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,477 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 849 shares during the period. Apple comprises 5.9% of McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $206,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Maxim Group lifted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.51.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $228.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $227.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.00. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

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.