Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Increased by CreativeOne Wealth LLC

CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 194,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 55,478 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.5% of CreativeOne Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. CreativeOne Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $45,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after buying an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 2.1 %

AAPL stock opened at $232.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $241.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.