TRU Independence Asset Management 2 LLC Acquires New Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

TRU Independence Asset Management 2 LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 8,519 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,985,000. Apple makes up approximately 1.7% of TRU Independence Asset Management 2 LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $229.98 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $240.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.56. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

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, beating 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush upped their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.85.

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.