Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Wahed Invest LLC’s Largest Position

Wahed Invest LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 351,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,097 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 14.4% of Wahed Invest LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Wahed Invest LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $81,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $227.65 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.13, a PEG ratio of 2.32 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. The company has a 50-day moving average of $241.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.13.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.