Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC Takes $6.69 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 28,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $6,694,000. Apple comprises 4.0% of Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $21,335,435,000 after buying an additional 1,742,087 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 58,615,053 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,657,308,000 after buying an additional 1,112,033 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other 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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $227.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.13, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $241.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.97. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Maxim Group lifted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.