Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Leisure Capital Management

Leisure Capital Management increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 81,242 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 8.1% of Leisure Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Leisure Capital Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP grew 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 valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’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 value of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $242.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $230.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.62. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $244.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.94, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 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.