Tower Bridge Advisors Has $55.31 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Tower Bridge Advisors increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 237,376 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 5.7% of Tower Bridge Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $55,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares during the last quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the second quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 97,574 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $20,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415 shares during the period. Rezny Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.2% during the second quarter. Rezny Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,894 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC now owns 17,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,599,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Finally, Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 44,023 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,272,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.05.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $222.78 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.69. 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 company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20.

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. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.