Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 341,617 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 49,749 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.7% of Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $79,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,807 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,214,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,359,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,745,201 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,526,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557,848 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $253.48 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $253.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $233.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $224.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business 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 was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % 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 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Moffett Nathanson cut their price objective on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.