Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Raised by Heritage Investment Group Inc.

Heritage Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,443 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,905 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.0% of Heritage Investment Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Heritage Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Apple by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 34,486,195 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,035,283,000 after buying an additional 432,140 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Maxim Group lifted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.05.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $222.78 on Friday. 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 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $240.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’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 transaction of $945,233.10. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value 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. The trade was a 20.41 % 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.

About Apple

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.