Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Has $8.18 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,109 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 7,196 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.6% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. 1900 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 2.3% in the third quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,894 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,965,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the period. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 102,466 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,356,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 893,993 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $208,301,000 after buying an additional 48,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management boosted its position in Apple by 106.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 116,344 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,108,000 after buying an additional 60,081 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.85.

Apple Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $229.98 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, 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. 0.06% of the stock is owned by 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.