GG Group Ventures LLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

GG Group Ventures LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 422 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 1.9% of GG Group Ventures LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. GG Group Ventures LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its position 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 period. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its position 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 increased its position 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 valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $241.53 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $240.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.34. The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Citigroup upped their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

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.