Tradewinds LLC. Purchases 1,668 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Tradewinds LLC. raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 80,569 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.8% of Tradewinds LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Tradewinds LLC.’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 0.7 %

AAPL opened at $237.62 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $241.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.08, 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, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays reduced their target price on Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.05.

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.