Lummis Asset Management LP Buys 2,447 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Lummis Asset Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,518 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,447 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 11.3% of Lummis Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Lummis Asset Management LP’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its stake in Apple by 12.8% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,122,000 after acquiring an additional 28,799 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $223.83 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $241.09 and a 200-day moving average of $230.82. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. 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 (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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.99.

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.