NCP Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

NCP Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,381 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.6% of NCP Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. NCP Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Scott & Selber Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the second quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. now owns 117,548 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $24,758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.0% during the second quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 188,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $39,773,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Armbruster Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Armbruster Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,646 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,821,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 66,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,901,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050 shares during the period. Finally, ARK & TLK Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 7,855 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,654,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was 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 Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $232.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $241.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.89. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Maxim Group increased their price objective on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

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.