Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s 10th Largest Position

Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 62,490 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,769 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.6% of Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

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

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. 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 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were 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 directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This 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 at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

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.