Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Raised by Alternative Investment Advisors LLC.

Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,831 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 0.7% of Alternative Investment Advisors LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL lifted its stake in Apple by 23.6% during the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 24,462 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,675 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.1% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 54,499 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,698,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $746,000. Dantai Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd now owns 45,715 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,652,000 after buying an additional 5,215 shares during the period. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,508,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $244.60 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company 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.