Ground Swell Capital LLC Increases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ground Swell Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 168.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,316 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.7% of Ground Swell Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Ground Swell Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. lifted 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 worth $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisory boosted its position in Apple by 3.8% in the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Core Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $245.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $239.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $229.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its 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. 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 analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital cut 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. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.03.

Apple Company 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.