Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,767 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.3% of Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,165,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Hoese & Co LLP increased its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, SMH Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Maxim Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Moffett Nathanson decreased their price target on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $232.87 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.49. 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 moving average of $228.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $218.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.30, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % 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. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.