Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Lifted by Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 80,434 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,015 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.0% of Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in Apple by 14,145.8% during the second 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 during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $834,368,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after buying an additional 3,245,281 shares during the period. Finally, Tairen Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $588,952,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $248.05 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $254.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $224.89.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

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.