Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 126,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.4% of Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Boston Common Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 9.5% during the second quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 203,435 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,847,000 after purchasing an additional 17,617 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,701,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $208,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 5,126.6% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 67,684 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,671,000 after buying an additional 66,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BancFirst Trust & Investment Management increased its stake in Apple by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management now owns 2,048 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company 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 company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $258.20 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $226.34. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.47, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $258.21. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

About Apple

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.