Optimist Retirement Group LLC Invests $1.29 Million in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Optimist Retirement Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,535 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,290,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $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 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $244.60 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $240.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $231.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Maxim Group lifted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.