Apella Capital LLC Boosts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apella Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,072 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Apple by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after buying an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 161.2% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $834,368,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.25.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $228.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.55, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $227.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.31.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.