Ellsworth Advisors LLC Grows Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,252 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.1% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vista Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 47,320 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,026,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Drake & Associates LLC lifted its position in Apple by 9.5% during the third quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 12,646 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 83,501 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $19,456,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 56,295 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,117,000 after buying an additional 3,797 shares during the period. Finally, Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 254,244 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,239,000 after acquiring an additional 10,385 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $247.77 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $248.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.75, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $230.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $222.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Barclays decreased their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson cut their price objective on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

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.