Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC

Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,978 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 620 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.9% of Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Maxim Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $228.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $241.68 and a 200 day moving average of $230.86. The company has a market cap of $3.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

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.