Emerald Advisers LLC Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,075 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,735 shares during the quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisory raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Core Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Maxim Group increased their price objective on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.03.

Insider Activity

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, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $245.00 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $239.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.33.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.