Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Lifted by Kelly Financial Services LLC

Kelly Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,147 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.5% of Kelly Financial Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Kelly Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its position in Apple by 6.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, SMH Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $209,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

Apple stock opened at $234.93 on Thursday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $228.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $219.12. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’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 business earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.