Freedom Day Solutions LLC Grows Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Freedom Day Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,825 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 508 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.2% of Freedom Day Solutions LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Freedom Day Solutions LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,156 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,395,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in shares of Apple by 23.5% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 79,514 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $17,973,000 after acquiring an additional 15,136 shares during the period. Element Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Element Wealth LLC now owns 10,895 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,539,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 4.1% during the third quarter. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Finally, Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 0.3 %

AAPL opened at $255.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.91. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $255.65. The company has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. On average, sell-side 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. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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.