Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Acquires 3,366 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,627 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,366 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 0.5% of Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,160,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,807 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,759 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, 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 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. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Loop Capital cut shares of 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Apple Stock Down 0.7 %

AAPL stock opened at $236.00 on Monday. 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’s 50 day moving average is $241.68 and its 200 day moving average is $230.84. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Apple 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.