Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Wallington Asset Management LLC

Wallington Asset Management LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,557 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,095 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 4.3% of Wallington Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Wallington Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $30,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 354,994 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,714,000 after acquiring an additional 28,891 shares in the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,812 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 61,888 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,419,000 after buying an additional 2,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altus Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 31,547 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,350,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $254.49 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $234.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.48. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $255.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The company’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 year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

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.