Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Boosted by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 810,798 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,003 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.7% of Stephens Inc. AR’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Apple were worth $188,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.2% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $406,099,000 after purchasing an additional 95,235 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $243.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.11, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $238.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $228.58. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays cut their price objective 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. Moffett Nathanson decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.