Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. Has $1.58 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 154.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,798 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,123 shares during the quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 14,145.8% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 158.3% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 5,405,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at about $834,368,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Apple Stock Up 0.1 %

AAPL stock opened at $248.13 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $232.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $250.80. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last 90 days. 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.