SGL Investment Advisors Inc. Makes New $9.27 Million Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

SGL Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 40,616 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $9,269,000. Apple makes up 4.7% of SGL Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC grew its stake 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 worth $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during 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 in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $232.62 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $241.02 and its 200 day moving average is $231.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.